The local Kestrel glides across the farm landscape weekly with a field mouse in its talons. I am always amazed with witnessing such an experience. At ABC acres we have designed and installed a working farm with all the livestock species you would expect. They live and play in a system we manage for their betterment and ultimate survival. To the contrary, the local raptor population lives free and clear of man’s interactions for their survival. They perform their many tasks of nesting, raising young, feeding & predation and even migration… all on their own.
By simply observing this fact, we determined that by designing and attracting a large native raptor population to the farm, these birds could assist us with our day to day, as well as long term, goals.
Bird nesting boxes of all kinds are scattered throughout the farm. Amongst the food forest, goat paddocks, barn complex and distant pastures, you find nesting cavities for owls, kestrels, blue birds, nuthatches, swallows and more. In effort to build on the birds natural function, we find that the farm landscape offers a buffet of rabbits & mice, voles & moles, beetles & worms, flies & maggots, and yellow jackets & wasps. All elements that can create chaos for a food producing, livestock living landscape. The presence of the bird population allows these elements to be kept in check. What does this mean? Cattle grazing on lush pasture with reduced fly pressure, harvesting seasonal fruit with less insect damage, watching our trees grow without the threat of being curdled at the trunk, flashes of color soaring around the farm, and a cacophony of sounds throughout the day. In seeing the work these feathered friends perform, we have gone about managing our poultry flocks to emulate such behaviors. Visiting ABC acres you will find chickens and turkeys patrolling the various penned areas and open pastures while breaking pest cycles and fertilizing the landscape as they go. Living day to day in a farming model that works much like a natural eco-system.
By creating a productive agriculture landscape where both native wildlife and livestock can flourish, we in turn create a system in balance. A system of minimal disease and overwhelming health… Health for the farm owners, the livestock, the food being grown and the native wildlife species that bless us with their presence daily. A Permaculture system, where you work with nature, not against, for the benefit of all living things.
