Multi-species... What?

Hi, there. It’s, me again.

Yesterday was a watershed day. A landmark. A change of epochs. (at least in farmland speak)

Really? How so?

We have fretted for the last three months about how to keep our hens alive when we put them out into the paddocks to free range. I built a pretty fancy chicken tractor with 15 gallons of onboard water and solar to power the photo-electric door (opens at sunrise, closes at sunset) and an interior light. That doesn't help with coyotes, dogs, foxes, raccoons, hawks, and owls - the friendly neighborhood predators.

Our intent from almost the beginning has been to use three species in a holistic system. Use cattle to turn grass into money, goats to control broadleaf and woody plants, and chickens to control insects. We got our first cattle in April 2014 and that has worked out to our satisfaction. We had some Nigerian Dwarf goats and then gave them away - too precocious. We kept chickens in the front yard for three years until the predators got the last of them. There have been a lot of lessons learned.

I started looking for an alternative to goats in our system that would also have some market demand. A conversation with a former cattleman in Oklahoma about Mashona cattle turned up hair sheep. Hair sheep? Never heard of them. Turns out there are a few breeds of hair sheep in use in the US. Hair sheep do not grow wool like we normally think of sheep. Think of Bighorn or Barbados sheep - no wool to shear. Hair sheep are not quite the browsers that goats are, but they do like their broadleafs.

OK. So, sheep, maybe. How do you keep them alive? There are three standard guard animals for sheep and goats. They are llamas, donkeys, and dogs.

Yesterday, we welcomed 6 Katahdin ewes, 1 ram, and one guard dog to the farm. Because we now have a guard dog, we can also put the chickens into the paddock with the sheep and leverage ‘Thena’s talents. Yesterday, we moved into the three species epoch. Yesterday, we moved a step closer to a more natural ecosystem for our grass.

After a hilarious (and mildly scary) meet and greet between the cows and sheep, everyone has now settled down to business as usual (from a herbivore’s point of view).

The chickens seem to be delighted to be out in the grass with grasshoppers galore and plenty of dust to scratch around. They figured out how to use their water nipple system in about 5 minutes. I only had to assist two of the girls back to their house before the door closed for the night.

By the way, there is also a market for grassfed lamb and mutton, as well as grassfed, free range eggs and chicken. The two additional species bring not only cost avoidance and a more complete ecosystem, they might also contribute a bit of cash!

The numbers of sheep and chickens are probably wrong for a correct system balance. I have looked and looked unsuccessfully for guidance on how to determine the right numbers in a system like ours. So, we will do it experimentally. Let the fun begin!

Your comments are always appreciated. Please leave a comment or contact me directly if you just want to chew over some ideas.

Have a great day,

Robin Hood