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  • From: Robyn Francis <robyn@permaculture.com.au>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] PIGS AT WORK
  • Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:42:17 +1100

You can check out the photos on the original article I posted a link to -
there are pics of both a mobile pen and a permanent pig tractor garden and
useful information about the process and pro's and cons of the mobile unit.
Here's the link again -
http://permaculture.com.au/online/articles/piggies-at-work-%E2%80%93-feature
-article-photo-journal
Robyn

On 19/10/11 1:45 AM, "DGilsen@aol.com" <DGilsen@aol.com> wrote:

> So a pig tractor is just a movable enclosure???? What does it look like?
>
>
> In a message dated 10/18/2011 6:35:46 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
> cory8570@yahoo.com writes:
>
> Wow, sounds complicated! The pig at our Pine Ridge project kept breaking
> out of her pen because there was zero stimulation for her back there. So we
> made a pig tractor out of a temporary corral (forged steel panels linked
> together, no way for her to break out of that), and moved her from spot to
> spot where she could dig and root and be near the horses and people, etc.
> Ideally, the design would incorporate a place where the pigs could free
> range
> (a la Sepp Holzer), but that takes some good barriers if you have a kitchen
> garden you want to keep around, etc.
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: "DGilsen@aol.com" <DGilsen@aol.com>
> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Sent: Monday, October 17, 2011 4:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] PIGS AT WORK
>
> Can you tell me what exactly is a pig tractor? Is it just a pen, or is
> it a contraption? I heard of a contraption that looked like a large
> hamster
> wheel a tin can on its side that had the bars welded about one foot apart
> on the sides. The pigs rooted through the bars on the ground and as they
> leaned on the bars of the "hamster wheel" to get to other goodies the
> wheel
> would roll to greener pastures and the pigs learned to corroperate to go
> in a
> desired direction. the pigs entered in the end of the "wheel. The thing
> was about six or seven feet tall I believe. This was made out of steel
> wagon type wheels on the ends with the bars welded from one end of the
> wheel to
> the other. one end had a door for the critters to enter and exit.
>
>
> In a message dated 10/11/2011 7:49:51 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
> rollens@fidnet.com writes:
>
> Just be cautious because when the cute little darling gets physically
> mature and comes in heat, she may tear the pen completely apart, electric
> wire
> and all, and goo visiting, or worse, on a feeding binge! Guess how I
> know???
>
> Lisa
>
>
> On Oct 10, 2011, at 11:57 PM, Cory Brennan wrote:
>
>> We set up a pig tractor this summer at Pine Ridge reservation, and it
> worked great. The pig ate all the weeds except vervain, tilled the soil,
> and
> replanted squash seeds and curly dock for us - when we noticed that, we
> started feeding her stuff we wanted planted and that worked pretty good
> too.
> We planted cover crops where she dug, and that worked good too, tho it
> started getting too hot and dry, and with no irrigation, the pioneers we
> didn't
> want (like goathead) were coming back in so we moved her back to a
> permanent pen. But I would do that again in an instant to clear a field
> rather than
> manually doing it. She worked really fast too - in only a few days, her
> pen area would be cleared. We were using her to clear a fairly large
> space
> for a food forest, but only got a small portion of it done. What I will
> do
> next spring if we still have access to her is put some composted manure
> and
> straw in the pen, let her dig that in while she eats the weeds (she
>> doesn't leave enough manure herself in the few days it takes her to eat
> stuff, though there is some), then plant cover crop and nitro fixers as
> soon as we move her. It would be a relatively labor free way of turning
> the
> compacted clay pioneer soil into food forest material...
>>
>> Cory
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>
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--
Permaculture College Australia inc
Pathways to sustainability through
Accredited Permaculture TrainingĀ
Certificates III & IV and Diploma of Permaculture
PDC and short courses

Robyn Francis
International permaculture design and
sustainability consultant, educator & facilitator

Djanbung Gardens
Permaculture Education Centre & Demonstration Farm
PO Box 379 Nimbin NSW 2480
02-6689 1755 / 0429 147 138
www.permaculture.com.au






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