The relationship between the cows, the chickens, the gardens and us is interesting. We all put things into it and we certainly all benefit.
We feed the cows and provide shelter and water and scratching when needed. The cows give us milk and eventually beef. They also give us physical activity and entertainment in ways too few people get to enjoy. Its a bit like playing with your food.
The chickens give us eggs and meat, they are bug and small rodent control and then they are our mini-tractors in the gardens. We give them shelter and basic food....not as much as if they were in a coop, they do an amazing amount of foraging and have the cow manure spread everywhere they see it.
From patties in the fields to the piles of barn cleanings in the gardens, they are the hardest working of all our animals.
The relationships between all creatures on a farm are intertwined, what too many people do not get to see is the way each farm is a bit different.
Our young hens catching bugs on a load of wood. Pest control thats fun to watch and non-toxic to us.
The cows grazing along a fence and keeping the pastures healthy.
I think we all need to pay attention to the way our animals, gardens and families work.
Do you have your own version of a symbiotic farm?
I'm heading out to get some of my chores done. I have to get some more manure piles for the 'crew' to plow.
Take care and God Keep you safe.
This was very interesting. We have a small one acre place, but compared to what we have had all of our married live until buying this place 4 years ago, it seems huge to us. We have a huge garden that gets bigger every year. And we have learned to can since moving here. So, it feeds us all year long and feeds our neighbors, too :) I've been thinking about getting chickens, just haven't taken the plunge.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed my visit . . . happy farming.
Connie :)
You can do a lot on 1 acre. We were blessed to find this place and its 15 acres, in a warm long growing season area it is almost too much. Its why we ended up with the cows. We had not planned on them but got overwhelmed with the grass.
ReplyDeleteThe chickens are a joy. I have come to believe they are not given the respect they deserve. Ours are free range but we put them in at night. For first time chickens I would recommend Buff Orpington...sexed chicks, no rooster to start with. They are sweet,friendly and beautiful. There is a ton of information out there. Good luck and thank you for stopping in🙂🙂
"The relationships between all creatures on a farm are intertwined," that is so, so true! And I think you have to live it to truly understand it. Our modern mindset compartmentalizes everything into neat little boxes, and to see that all the boxes actually fit together is a journey of discovery. Everything has it's place.
ReplyDeleteSo true. I am finding as much as I thought I knew, there is still much more to learn about how things work. Observation is a tool we all need to use more. Its sad so many people dont get a chance to really 'see' the world around them.
DeleteFrom the title, this is not the kind of chicken tractor I was expecting, Fiona. Good to see how well your place is shaping up. Fern
ReplyDeleteI see so many small and crowded chicken tractors being used efficiently for meat birds but after three full sumners with our free range flock we are amazed at how much raking and soil work our chickens do, just like tractors with plows. Ours is the Free range version😁
DeleteI think the relationships are integral to having a productive farm, no matter how large or small. Thank you for reminding me how it should work, and how important it all is. I tend to forget gentler things during the winter, when everything seems so hard. xo
ReplyDeleteWell dear Girl....you have WINTER....we have winter😁.
DeleteI find the animals cheer me up with their ...lets grab all the food we can...attitide on the nice days. It is hard in miserable weather. Be safe and stay warm.