Today I want to continue to elaborate on homestead infrastructure, building on my discussion in Part 1. For reference, above I have included the previous map of our home acre. I want to go through it in more detail.
Infrastructure is about more than just housing all the animals, and protecting crops. Infrastructure is important to make a homestead work. If the goats get into the garden, the garden is going to feed nobody. If the pigs get out, then they can become a nuisance to every farmer in the area, not to mention bring a homesteader in danger of the law focusing on the homesteader.
Fencing
First, let's talk fencing! To me, fencing is not only one of the most important parts of the homestead, it is also the hardest part, and often the costliest part. Animals are constantly putting pressure on fencing. They push on it, stand on it, and find any weakness looking to escape. Not only do they put pressure on fencing, often there are other animals, wild ones, putting the same pressure on it to get in.
In addition, every part of the infrastructure of a homestead, from the very moment it is built, is in the process of falling apart. This is the second law of thermodynamics in action. It is up to the homesteader to make sure energy, and matter enter the homestead system. In fact, I would say that entropy will flat take over, unless the homesteader DOES introduce energy, and matter.
There is no place this is more evident than fences. When one complicates that with the question of what type of fencing is effective for each animal, and garden system, the homesteader is fairly running to keep ahead of the Second Law! At least he better be, or those fences aren't gonna protect a thing.
It is very important that the fences on the homestead contain the animals which are behind them. What works for one animal may not work for another. This seems basic, but each animal system has its own personality. A goat can do things a cow never could, and a sheep never would...
Each type of fencing has it's own character. Some types of fencing include, Barb wire, Welded wire, Split Rail, Electric, Chicken Wire, Hardware Cloth, Cattle & Hog panels, Pallets, Wattle & Daub, Woven Wire, Woven Living Fencing, Hedging, and others. Each of these have their strengths, and weaknesses.
For instance, there are some homesteaders out there who swear by electric fencing, and it does have its benefits for some animals. First of all, it is relatively inexpensive. Secondly, animals are easily trained to respect it.
However, there have been some people killed by electric fencing, especially children. Animals can have a fear response, and become tangled in it, or they can just blow through it, defeating the purpose. Goats in particular tend to become immune at times. Also, it has been known to occasionally pick up residual charge, even when not plugged in. Not to mention, the fire danger from shorting out on untrimmed weeds, as well as simply not working as a result, defeating the purpose.
As for me, electric fencing makes me nervous. I had heart failure related to a pregnancy at one time. The last thing I need is to be grabbing onto something that is going to be affecting my heart rhythm. I also don't like the idea of having it around children.
These are the kinds of decisions that must be made by every homesteader. Just what priorities are to be set, with regard to fencing, as well as just what kind of animals are being contained. If you are containing a chicken, it has special needs, like it's small size to deal with, and it's babies tiny size to deal with. If on the other hand you are containing a Bull, this presents a whole different set of requirements.
Years ago, there was a farmer that lived down the road from my Aunt. There was a river down past his farm. He had a bull, in this pen with eight foot high walls, built of eight inch, by six inch planks, stacked together. When you first saw this pen, you couldn't see the bull. The walls were solid construction. It made one wonder why anyone would build such a fortress of a pen.
However, when you walked by that pen, on the way to the river to swim, you quickly understood why the pen was built as such. Because when that farmer wasn't breeding that bull, he kept him in that pen, and when that bull heard anything outside that pen he would hit the side of the pen with all the strength he had in his several thousand pound body. And if you were on the other side watching, you could see those huge planks bow out more than a foot! It sounded like all of hell was coming to get you! REALLY scary!
Now that my friends is fence pressure! You probably say to yourself, “Why keep that bull in such a pen?”. The answer, is because when a bull like that wants to get to his lady friends, and you don't want him to, then you better have a fence like that between you, and him!
Birds:
So unlike the bull, birds need small wire, that will contain, not only them, but their babies when they cannot be allowed to free range. Free range sounds wonderful, but true free range takes a lot of land, and fencing. I like the idea of controlled range better.
Controlled range means that the birds are moved into areas, as their pressure can be absorbed by the land they are ranging on. This means that the birds are used for their strengths. Chickens scratch, Ducks control bugs, Geese weed, Turkeys also control bugs, and weeds. Birds can be your homestead's best friend, or they can be it's worst enemy. Birds are free labor, or they make labor for the homesteader.
So chickens, are fabulous for cleaning up a small plot for planting. If they are tractored, or moved into a small area, they can wipe the land bare with their scratching. However, they can also denude a garden in short work. They can also be used for bug control in an orchard, or garden, controlling things like Japanese Beetles, Cut Worms, and squash bugs. A short run, even in a producing garden can reap benefits. Also, they are fabulous at cleaning up weed seeds.
A fall run of chickens over a garden plot, can save a lot of work weeding the next year, and prepare, and fertilize the garden for the next year. This can prevent the need for tillage, which disrupts the soil structure substantially. However, to do this necessitates the fact that one must need chicken proof fence around the garden, and where one has chickens, one must also have fence suitable to keep predators at bay. So the fence cannot just simply be chicken wire. Cattle Panels are excellent for keeping predators at bay, but they must be covered in smaller wire.
Really, such a system, is also good for other kids of birds as well. The Garden sections on the map above will be enclosed by cattle panels with a chicken wire cover to the inside. Why to the inside, you ask? Because, when an animal intently, wants to get behind a fence, they often pull with their teeth on the chicken wire. Having the wire to the inside of the panels, makes it much more difficult for an animal to penetrate.
Another option to the cattle panel, for those who find them costly, is a well put together pallet fence. Pallets make surprisingly good fences, especially for pig emergencies. They can also reinforce hog panels when need be, which if you are dealing with pigs, you will quickly find out how weak a hog panel really is! They can also have bird wire attached easily. However, a system must be designed to connect them together, and enough of them attained to make it worthwhile.
Now that is not to say that this means that you can leave your birds in this type of enclosure day, and night. No, they will need to either be in a house at night, or you will need, a really excellent farm dog to patrol. Frankly, I always recommend two dogs, enough for friendship, but not a pack.
Gardens
My design above is meant to take maximum advantage of my birds, both for the purposes of egg, and meat production, but also for the maintenance of the gardens, and greenhouse. So a likely layout would be two early spring gardens, each holding greens, roots, and Brassicas, as well as peas, and favas.
One of those gardens would hold the Brassicas, since Brassicas stay in the ground for a long period of time. That same garden would likely contain long producing root crops such as, carrots, or storage beets. This garden, would definitely need ducks, and geese kept out of it, especially in early spring. This is because, those animals do massive amounts of damage to young Brassicas, especially broccoli.
A second garden would be planted to greens, peas, potatoes, and other short season roots, such as radishes, beets, and turnips. Now this garden is going to finish in production first. When it has been harvested, then the chickens will be turned in, with perhaps some piglets following to finish clean-up. This bed, can then be turned to a short season, rapid growth feed crop, such as milo, or perhaps pumpkins or winter squash. In the mean time, in the house, should be seeded the fall brassicas, which can then be put in place, once the feed crop is removed. These can be plants such as winter hardy kale, and cabbages. Also another great crop is Mache, which will produce salads most of the winter.
Then there can also be two gardens of warm weather vegetables. One can be for feed crops such as corn, and sunflowers, as well as Okra, Roselles, climbing beans, and winter squash. Another can be for Bush beans, tomatoes, southern peas, peppers, and summer squash. Also some summer tolerant greens can be placed here such as, Jericho Lettuce, Chard, and Tyfon. In addition, this is also a good place for melons, and Cucurbits.
These gardens can be preceeded by turnips in spring, which are quickly harvested, and fed to pigs, goats, rabbits, and even chickens. These will start harvesting, within about forty-fifty days, and can take some frost well. Therefore, here, I can get them in the ground easily in early March, harvest them all in mid-April, and then put in the warm weather things, after a quick run-over by the pigs. My last frost date is April 15, so this is very convenient. Not to mention, turnips produce a LOT of feed quickly.
At the end of the season, some of these gardens can be rotated into winter rye, or wheat. This will give a cutting of hay, or if poor weather, silage, the next spring, the stubble of which can be planted straight into, or the pigs can clean it up.
Pigs
Someone in the comments on my last post asked me why, I was planning on the much more expensive option of cinderblock enclosures for the pigs rather than the cheaper option of hog panels? The answer is, that I have dealt with hog panels many times, and found them too light for a full grown breeding pig. Now raising up feeder pigs behind them is one thing. However, a full grown hog, is a mighty strong animal! Keeping in mind, that I raised medium sized, Pot Belly/Hamp crosses.
I chose to raise these pigs, because I do all my butchering here at the farm. I do not send animals to the processor. We got to where, we could raise them up on a block and tackle, skin, gut, and have them in the house for cutting up in about forty minutes. I often butchered them even in summer late in the evening, and had them in the freezer within a couple hours. I did this over, and over again. Night butchering is a real blessing, because you have no fly pressure!
The only animal that I have never butchered myself is a cow. However, having done many large pigs, goats, and large deer, I am confident that on the right fall day, with a good broken chest freezer near by for aging, I would have absolutely no problem doing this, assuming I had some of my strong sons at the ready to help! I fully intend on doing this very thing one of these days.
Anyway, back to pigs, the pig pens are set up to be able to easily breed, and separate the adult boar, and sows. Cinder blocks, reinforced with rebar, concrete, and if necessary, rubble, is used to prevent the pushing of fences. Around the outside enclosures is a variety of trees for the purpose of dropping nuts, acorns, and apples right to the pigs. These trees provide mast during the year, that I will not have to carry. This saves me work, and provides feed. It also provides shade, which pigs need. The cement walls provide heat in winter, when the trees do not have leaves, which means they let in the sun.
Each Sow's house, has a 2x6 board running around the inside six inches from the floor, providing a running space from big mama for tiny piglets upon farrowing. This means no squished piggies, and Mama can be completely contained during farrowing. The boar can be moved for breeding by simply opening up the back alley, and the proper lady's gate as well. Then he can be separated easily again. This system is to provided maximum safety to the homesteader, when moving very large, and dangerous livestock! Pigs can do a lot of damage.
This method also works when separating young pigs from a still protective mama! By giving the piglets an easy way out, Mama can easily be re-bred once babies are safely on their way to work in the gardens for their feed! Mama, also is not upset unnecessarily. The whole thing is designed for maximum production control.
Next Time
In our next installment, I will finish this series on infrastructure, by talking about the larger animal accommodations, as well as more about types of housing for the birds. I sincerely hope this is helpful to every one. In the meantime, have a look at the following sketch of our next subject matter.
