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  • From: Mark <mpludwig@facstaff.wisc.edu>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Ducks, gees, chickens, no-till
  • Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2002 12:45:20 -0600

At 09:13 AM 11/27/02 -0800, you wrote:
I would like to hear expierences from people using ducks, geese or chickens
for weeds control (especially grasses), pest control, fertilizering and bed
preperation. I'm not interested in the meat or eggs just the above
mentioned benefiets.

Thanks,
Daniel

I have found chickens very good at cleaning up weed seeds. I'm sure this varys with the size of the seeds and the breed of hen. IOW larger seeds are generally more attractive, and some are surely unpalatable. Good active hens should help too; I have found the easy to come by white leghorn as good a range bird as any other. IF you get them from a confinement situation it will take them a few weeks to get used to ranging and get fully effective. As far as weeds themselves, if they are short enough to eat, they will try. If you can concentrate them in a small area they can kill such vegetation given enough time, just look at any dusty little yard behind a chjook house for confirmation of this. I have a little experience with turkeys, they are good grazers and might kill off weeds given time, the wild ones eat a lot of mast; acorns and such.
M



Mark P. Ludwig
Poultry Research Lab
University of Wisconsin -Madison
608-262-1730 WK
608-846-7125 HM





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