I don’t mean any of the following to be argumentative. Sometimes my choices of words can use improvement and I’ve got a huge sinus headache going right now, so I’m not quite fully responsible for my decisions.
Robert D Bard wrote:
Desert has sand and cactus. Across the Gulf of CA in Hermosillo they raise a lot of chickens and eggs in the desert. I guess the heat isn't to bad.
Different breeds adapt differently. Get your initial chicks from Hermosillo for sure. I was not thinking of keeping the chickens penned all day. I would let them free range during the day and lock them tight at night. Joel Salatin has a chicken coop on a cotton trailer. Underneath the trailer provides shade for the birds during the day. It also forces predators to jump quite high to get up to the birds at night.
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There is alfalfa grown for cattle but they probably will not part with manure.
This is an excellent sign!!! See if you can get seed from the alfalfa growers.
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The problem with goats is that they destro vegetation - look at how the desert in Northern Africa keeps going south by 2 miles per year. Of course people burning everything also helps this process.
I can find you thousands of folks who will swear that cattle destroy vegetation, too. It is the human mismanagement of animals on pasture that destroys vegetation. Any animal will eat what they have available. I can destroy pasture by overgrazing chickens, too. If you keep the animals moving through the pasture and give the grass time to rest, no matter what the animal (except pigs), they RESTORE vegetation. But if you really are against goats, go with cattle, I don’t care. Goats are way cheaper, multiply much faster, eat things cattle won’t eat, and cabrito is a delicacy down there. I was trying to cut costs for you. I firmly believe that proper use of animals on desert/pasture can restore that entire desert in North Africa. Let’s see, recovering since pre-Biblical times might take at least another 2,000 years, though (c;
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In Baja the migrant workers cut cactus and dry it for fuel.
Cattle and goats will eat it. Don’t burn it!!!! Pretty soon they will have so much fuel growing, they won’t bother with the cactus any more.