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permaculture - Re: Bont tick and natural tickisides (fwd)

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Victor Guest <vic@daena.eepo.com.au>
  • To: Permaculture WA <perma@eepo.com.au>
  • Subject: Re: Bont tick and natural tickisides (fwd)
  • Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 10:56:45 WST

Saw this story and it was permaculture in Action.
Vic

Reply-to: craig@achrm5.icon.co.zw
CC: general@lists.holisticmanagement.org
Priority: normal
X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.40)

Dear Norman
I got this message and think I may have an idea for you. My wife
Paula and I manage the Africa Centre for Holistic Management Ranch at
Matetsi in Zimbabwe. We have been running a small herd of cattle here
for almost a year without dipping and so far have had no fatalities
from tick borne disease. We have to kraal our cattle at night because
of lion and hyaena and we have 25 laying hens which live in the kraal
with the cattle. These hens are absolutely brilliant detickers and
the cattle have learnt to stand still for the chickens to peck off
the ticks on their bellies and groins, the hens even jump to get the
higher ones. We also have a healthy population of ox-peckers but I
would say that the hens do a better job with less stress on the
cattle. A couple of the cows don't like the hens and have noticeably
more ticks on them. We got the idea from some people who had seen a
guy in South Africa do it with a big herd. What he did was he had a
big flock of hens in moveable cages which he would put near whichever
water point the cattle were using and they would then do their job
while the cattle drank. We had a bad tick problem until we put the
hens in the kraal. The hens are just ordinary layers and the only
thing you have to do is make sure they have not been debeaked. Hope
this helps.
P.S. We get great eggs off the chickens, ticks are obviously very
nutritious.


> To: general@lists.holisticmanagement.org (Recipients of
> chrm-general)
> Subject: Bont tick and natural tickisides
> Date: Wed, 29 Jul 98 10:43:53 GMT
> From: drichdsn@iafrica.com
> Cc: boomer@saon.com (Norman Neave)

> Dear all
>
> I have a client who has a problem with the bont tick and the resulting
> heartwater etc. They are also currently battling a lot with Nagana. This is
> a
> disease spread by the tsetse fly which is reinfesting its natural habitat
> now
> that it is immune to the DDT spread in huge tonnages there in earlier days.
>
> Innoculations for heartwater etc are being quite effective but teat loss on
> the
> cows from the ticks them selves remain a problem. They do dip still,
> occasionally, strategically and when necessary but would like to stop using
> chemicals for the sake of the dung beetles there. He has proper Zululand
> dungbeetles which one sees so little of these days. They are about 2 inches
> long and would knock you off your horse if you were going at speed.
>
> So do you know of any natural remedies for these ticks and possibly for the
> tsetse?
>
> The blokes name is Norman Neave. He is from Boomerang Farms near Matubatuba
> in
> Zululand, Natal South Africa. His e-mail address which I will put on a
> request
> to have him attatched to this conference on another posting, is
> boomer@saon.com
>
> Thanks Dick (Africa)
> ----
> Dick and Judy Richardson
> Whole Concepts
> PO Box 10440
> Vorna Valley 1686
> South Africa
> Tel:27-11-3153027
> Fax:27-11-8053962
> E-mail: drichdsn@iafrica.com
>
>
>
>




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