Conservation Pigs

This post was first published on Lowimpact.org.

At this year’s Scottish Smallholder Festival I attended a fascinating talk by Jack Flusk and Katie Swift of Conservation Pigs about their pioneering use of pigs for conservation work in woodland. With benefits to the pigs, the pig keeper and the woodland this is a practice which could become far more widespread. Continue reading

How ethology can help you think like a pig

This post was first published on lowimpact.org.

I want to talk about something which can help us design more ethical and sustainable ways of keeping our livestock. It is a subject that has always fascinated me and, if you keep animals, I think you will find it fascinating too. It is the is the study the behaviour of animals, particularly in their natural environment, known as ‘Ethology’. Continue reading

Pest Control with ducks!

Pest Control with ducks!

This post was first published on lowimpact.org.

You don’t have a slug problem, you have a duck deficiency” – Bill Mollison

There are of course many approaches to the scourge of slugs and snails in the vegetable patch. Hand picking by moonlight and beer traps have always been my methods of choice, but if you think you’d like to keep poultry, ducks can be a really effective option. Here are some of the benefits: Continue reading