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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Chicken terracing, also field level tool
  • Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:28:35 -0500


How does the chicken scratching result in terracing?

Install two parallel poultry fences--I put mine six feet apart--on the contour where you want the terrace. Over time and with enough chickens their scratching will move the dirt on the high side to the low side, eventually leveling. In practice I found that the heavy grass growth that inevitably accumulates at the bottom of poultry fences contributes greatly to the terrace effect. All this is good to reduce erosion on sloping ground.

This reminds me of the simple and effective field level/contour marking tool that Lee Flier told us about some years ago. Make a large but manageable A-shape of one-by-twos, with a small bolt through the top from which hang a string with a weight attached that hands below the cross piece of the A. To calibrate, place the frame on the ground. Mark where the string touches the cross piece. Turn the frame so the legs sit in exactly the opposite spots. Mark where the string now hangs. Now make the measuring mark exactly between the two test marks. In use, you will have both legs on the contour, which is to say the level, when the string crosses the middle mark. You can walk the A across any piece of ground and make a line on the contour by putting stakes or other markers down at each point. Then later put your fence, wall, irrigation canal, road or whatever on those points and all will be level. The tool is very low cost and highly effective, a homesteader's ideal.









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