Rodent, Pestilence & Predator Patrol
Because we believe in a holistic, natural approach to farming, we also use guineas and geese as predator deterrents. They both are reputed to control the snake populations around the livestock. The geese do well discouraging hawks from bothering the chickens, and can be effective deterrents for a stray dog wandering into the flocks; ours have even ganged together to chase away a hungry raccoon. The guineas give an added benefit of controlling the tick population, and they are excellent alarm systems, day or night, alerting us (and the chickens) to any intruders. Including butterflies and stray leaves.....
If you feed grain and maintain compost beds, you are an attractive resort for rodents. Our cats are not only pets, but they also work hard to keep our farm free of mice. Peafowl are very effective mousers, and will also eat small snakes and a variety of insects.
We consider flies, worms and such to be a form of "predators" on our livestock. Therefore, we employ ducks to combat them. They are fly-eating machines and they do a fantastic job eradicating liver flukes and other worms that would otherwise infest our flocks and herds. We free-range our non-breeder ducks and pasture keep our breeder ducks to help rid us of these pests.
If you feed grain and maintain compost beds, you are an attractive resort for rodents. Our cats are not only pets, but they also work hard to keep our farm free of mice. Peafowl are very effective mousers, and will also eat small snakes and a variety of insects.
We consider flies, worms and such to be a form of "predators" on our livestock. Therefore, we employ ducks to combat them. They are fly-eating machines and they do a fantastic job eradicating liver flukes and other worms that would otherwise infest our flocks and herds. We free-range our non-breeder ducks and pasture keep our breeder ducks to help rid us of these pests.