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.