hobby farming and maintaining wildlife ?

[nightshade]

okay is it possible to hobby farm, have chickens, goats, gardens ect. with out wipeing out the wildlife around you?

We are creating our homestead on twenty acres most of which is wooded and it is very important to me to maintain the wooded habitat and the creatures in it. Including the predators, such as foxes, owls, falcons ect. We will not be making a living off our tiny scale farming, just substituting our food supply and selling some stuff(eggs, baby goats eventually possibly some surplus from the gardens)to help pay the cost of having the animals we have. I have always felt that the wild animals were there first and it is my responsibility to respect that. If I lose a chicken here or there to a fox with pups, well they have to eat too. It is really hard sometimes, like this winter when I lost almost all of my 17 lawn ornament roosters to coyotes. But luckily there are no yots where we are moving. And well the foxes ect need to eat too. And if there is nothing else for them to eat yea the neighborhood kfc I bet looks really good.

Especially since where we are building our barns, coops , orchard, gardens and house was never developed before and was completely wooded until it was selective timbered last year. This cleared the 4+ or so acres that will be our farm area. And made the surrounding forest a patchy mess. We have tried hard to add to the habitat during the long clean up process from the logging.

My hubby and I have grown up with a great love of the forest and its creatures and wish to raise our family with that same love. As well as get a more back to the land way of life.

You need to know that I am also an active hunter and fishing woman so don't think I am just a happy little tree hugger. I just believe that there has to be balance and was wondering if I am the only one out there like this. Or if some one has tips and ideas for making it work.

Also if someone can drop some tips on reading materials or internet links that would give us an idea of how to replant out woodland to benefit us and the wild creatures too would be great. We have already started planting nut trees to try to draw the deer and turkeys back in. But we would like to plant somethings that could be harvested for firewood in years to come with out wiping out the hardwoods ect that take a life time to get a nice size and seem such a shame to cut down.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree with you and there is a great book by Joel Salatin, called You Can Farm that tells why and how to maintain your woodlots to improve on your grasslands for livestock. He also tells how to maintain a farm pond so that the normal flora and fauna can populate it and it can still be utilized for a water source for livestock. He fences his animals away from his ponds and allows the brush grow right up to the banks and actively encourages the wildlife there.

He also maintains woodlots between pastures and doesn't allow his cattle to roam there. He explains it all in his book and also in his book, Salad Bar Beef. After you read these books you will be surprised as to how much care he has taken in the stewardship of his land to maintain wildlife along side his farm animals.

 

[me&thegals]

I very much respect your sense of stewardship of your land and of being just one of the citizens of it!

I think it is completely possible to do both. I plant sunflowers in my garden, knowing it will attract the wild birds, who might also eat other things in my garden I don't want them to. But, there's enough to go around. Same with the rabbits and deer.

I think it's a complete intolerance for loss or imperfection that makes people use chemicals in their gardens and lawns, shoot any possible predators, etc.

I also think that penned in animals need our protection. Our chickens range over about 1 acre, but it is fenced for neighborhood peace reasons. If animals are attacking birds that I have given no place to run, I need to protect those birds from predators.

I think what I am trying to say is that it is a balance, and it sounds like you will do a wonderful job finding that balance. Just being concerned about it is half the battle.

 

[freemotion]

Fences!!! Sturdy coops and sheds/barns! Electric fencing is pretty affordable if the sturdier stuff is out of your budget right now. I spent about 6 years fencing my property, a roll at a time. My first roll was $89 and my last was $139!!! Same brand and all! But my place is a fortress. I sleep well at night, even when I hear the coyotes.

Remember to think about what will keep predators out rather than keeping the animals in (well, you want both, but you know what I mean.) Hardware cloth will keep racoon hands out, chicken wire won't.

I use deer netting on top of my brooder pen to keep the redtail hawks from eating my baby birds. Doesn't stop them from sitting in the trees above it and drooling, though.

I haven't lost anyone to predators in the 7 years we've been here. Two chickens lost all their tail feathers once, but that was to my mare who finally had enough of them jumping into her feeder while she was eating!

 

[keljonma]

There are a lot of books out there that you should be able to find on this subject or that discuss this as part of their farming ideas.

Louis Bromfield, Gene Logsdon, and Paul Heiney have great ideas on this subject.

 

[nightshade]

Fences!!! Sturdy coops and sheds/barns! Electric fencing is pretty affordable if the sturdier stuff is out of your budget right now. I spent about 6 years fencing my property, a roll at a time. My first roll was $89 and my last was $139!!! Same brand and all! But my place is a fortress. I sleep well at night, even when I hear the coyotes.

Remember to think about what will keep predators out rather than keeping the animals in (well, you want both, but you know what I mean.) Hardware cloth will keep racoon hands out, chicken wire won't.

I use deer netting on top of my brooder pen to keep the redtail hawks from eating my baby birds. Doesn't stop them from sitting in the trees above it and drooling, though.

I haven't lost anyone to predators in the 7 years we've been here. Two chickens lost all their tail feathers once, but that was to my mare who finally had enough of them jumping into her feeder while she was eating!

We were going to go with electric poly tape horse fence for our horses and goats. But over winter I talked myself out of it, and decided to just spend the extra money and get live stock fencing. Unfortunately I had already bought the polytape and could not return it. But I am already worrying less about the animals escaping and the deer breaking down the fence all the time. For Chickens does anyone know how the 1x2 welded wire hold up? I plan on covering the top with pheasant netting which seems like some pretty tough stuff.

I will post pics as I get them. We have been working over there every weekend for almost three months when it is not raining or snowing and I just realized this weekend we never took any pictures before we started cleaning it up.

 

[ticks]

I have raised poultry, and we still have a lot of wildlife like deer, grouse, woodcock, coyotes and hawks.

 

[freemotion]

I got the more expensive Red Brand woven wire horse fencing. I had welded wire around my compost heap and the goats destroyed it in just a few days when something greened up on the other side. Popped all the welds with their pointy little feet.

Should hold chickens just fine, just consider what is on the outside of their pen wanting to get in. Some predators can reach in, and some chickens will sleep against the fence when young and get pulled through. :/

My dog almost got my rooster when he tempted the roo by sticking his nose through the opening, then grabbed the roo by his head and yanked as hard as he could! I was standing a few feet away, which is the only reason the rooster is still alive. His beak never lined up quite right. He's in the pot, soon, anyways!

 

[lorihadams]

Here's another one for you to check out....Small Scale Livestock Farming by Carol Ekarius.

I also would recommend Harvest:A year in the life of an organic farm

I found both at the library and they are really eye openers. They will give you ideas about planning and what to do and not to do. In Harvest, they have about 20 acres and lots of different animals.

I like our wooded area too, we have thought about putting goats in it but we are still deciding. We only have 3 acres though. I applaud you for wanting to find a natural balance (I fish and hunt as well) and believe that that balance is critical. I am usually the one to kill does when hunting because we really need to in our area. I hope these might help and good luck! Let us know how it goes!

 

[nightshade]

thanks for the book references all I looked for them at the local library. No luck though so I will have to see if I can find them else wheres. I will keep you all updated on our progress.