permaculture

[Mark Ludwig <mpludwig@students.wisc.edu>]

>>Actually, I was talking to a biodynamic market gardener yesterday.  He said
>>that the ckickens are great to fertilise the soil, but do massive damage to
>>the soil structure.  They tend to compact the soil, they dig up the roots,
>etc.
>>
Mark Says, whether that's true depends.....
Chickens cause this kind of dammage by compacting the soil through excessive
turning and vegitation eating and their high N dung burning soil humas up.
A given soil/vegitative cover will tolerate differant ammounts of bird
presure depending on factors like soil biological activity, soil type (clay,
loam, sand) and water or nutrient status.  Note also the previous post where
other creatures get worked into the grazing mix, their manure and habbits
may fit some soils better.  With all these garden systems, remember that old
saying about the farmers footsteps being the best fertilizer; this is the
quaint way of pointing to the key role your management play's in making your
system work. 
Mark