Does Permaculture farming eliminate or reduce inadvertent animal deaths?

Question

I just recently started a garden and have gotten curious about this. Are Permaculturalists able to raise crops on a larger scale without running over moles, rabbits, etc. Do you use taditional farm equipment or another process? I appreciate any answers. Thanx.

Answer 1

some permaculturists use pesticides... poisons etc to kill pesky critters from eating their crops.. as such they still kill animals..

its not the same as ORGANIC or CRUELTY FREE by any means..

however by growing your own food you can choose to be less cruel..

I myself plant a rom of swiss chard for the deer... funny they prefer the row I grow for myself.. ah well.. I grow too much anyhow...

Answer 2

Cant really add anything to what Fred and Bohemian said,they covered it all.

Animals are included in the concept as components ,domestic as well as wild,

Check my page http://byderule.multiply.com/journal/ite...

where i talk about this --in Organic pest control

Or as workers ,

a nice example is using pack rats to harvest wild rice,by making underground chambers for them with a ^door^opening in the top for stealing their stash.

Heavy tractors are a NO NO because it compacts the ground

and Plowing kills of the organic soil producing cover ,So what you mean by traditional implements is unclear.

Permaculture is more about NO till farming

The horse and plow (small light weight tractor is also acceptable) or hoe are traditional

and should  only be used to initially shape the ground to ,and to make it receptive for water harvesting and drainage.or for planting if one uses a chisel plow,or hauling work.

For the rest as little as possible of the LIVING top cover is disturbed using Mulching to combat weeds instead

(see my entry on Mulching same page)

Note.

Permaculture is a sustainable concept that is meant for the quality of life ,not for a commercial market ,the planting is too diverse  for that ,there are many crops at any time ,not a lot of one crop alone.

Although many of the principles can be applied to commercial farming.

Answer 3

Permaculture generally tries to use animal resources in a way that allows them to fulfil their natural niche in an eco-system. eg chickens naturally scratch & eat bugs, worms & moles turn the soil see Darwin http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialInt... - very readable

Also permaculture tries to do things with the least human, mechanical, energy input, so avoiding ploughing, spraying, and compacting the soil with unnecessary traffic is a general principle.

as far as larger scale is concerned permaculturists would choose "appropriate" scale. so there would be wildlife corridors & a "zone 5" untouched natural eco-system for observation purposes only.

In our local agro-forestry/permaculture system we use small customised vehicles for seed drilling & harvesting. planting 5 differnet crops in rows into an established clover ley between rows of trees (fruit & timber & coppice) 18m apart. There are wide 12m headlands for rabbits, hares etc

Answer 4

We are permaculture farmers (hubby and I).  We use tractors and other such equipment on our farm (old equipment, use sought by antique tractor hobbiest).

More wildlife is attracted to a permaculture farm.  That's becaue we mimic nature a whole lot better than modern mono crop farming.

With some animals you have deaths...it would happen no matter what.  Quail, pheasants, rabbits, and a few others all stay put, and perfectly motionless....sometimes until it is too late.    That is their instinct.  It serves them well, to help them escape things like hawks, eagles, foxes, and coyotees.  However it does not help at all, to save them from hay bailers, or the sickle bar mower.

The only "good" thing I can say about inadvertent, or accidental deaths of wildlife is that most of the ones that are killed are the kind that populate VERY well.  Some of them, like the ring neck pheasants are not native to the U.S.A.  They are from China.  The ring neck pheasants are very agressive birds, and able to out-comepte our native ground dwelling birds, like the endangered Sage Grouse.

I've notice that usually any time an animal is killed during farming, that animal species is over-populated.  Every single wild animal species has a population over time that would look like a wave.  The species is at a low point, then they have a good breeding season and most of the offspring survive, pretty so the population explodes.  There their are too many, so some die of disease, starvation, and at the paws of predators, since predator populations also climb as they find more prey animals to eat.

This year, in my part of the country (Idaho) we should see an serrious population climb in varrious rodents and of course the rabbits.  This winter has been harsh, with deep snow.  The rodents are living safely under the snow.  Birds of prey are starving to death this winter.  When spring comes, there will be lush growth, due to all the moisture.  Rodents and rabbits are both fast breeding.  Their populations will explode, since their will be few predators to eat them.  However most of the raptor chicks, fox and coyote pups should survive this coming year, since their will be ample for their parents to catch and feed them, and because there are new territories to hunt since so many predators died.  So next year the predator population will be more back to normal.  If we have another good rodent and rabbit year, there will be too many predators the third year, and declines will begin to happen.

I don't think we have any more inadvertent animal deaths from running our tractors than any other modern farm....I also do not think we have any less.  By the way, it really does not happen all that often at all.  

Where a permaculture farm really shines, is that we are killing no insects, fish, mamals, or birds with chemical sprays!  We are not polluting the world around us.

We also provide a lot more habitat for native animals than they would otherwise have.  We try very hard to work WITH nature, not against it.

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 5

I think fred has covered it well enough.

I dont do things on a large scale - ive got a 100ft garden (which is quite large for me) but i do everything by hand and all of nature is welcome here. The only thing im trying to reduce by digging is brambles, everything else is just being mulched.

Interesting question.