Insects as Food for People and Livestock

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mealworm_01_Pengo.jpg

Eating insects!  The way things are going it may be a forgone conclusion.  Insects are extremely efficient at converting feed into protein.  Many of the insects that people culture are detrivores, meaning they eat just about anything.  I am going to expand this into the term micro-livestock for purposes of this discussion.   What this really boils down to is a whole systems based approach to addressing ones needs.  I have not made the jump to eating them full time but know it to be a viable option.  People all over the world eat insects.  Only Western culture and those heavily influenced by them seem to have an issue with it.

Insects can be kept in a small intensive system.  They can be kept in high-rise apartments and fed off of waste from previous meals, yard trimmings, leaves, or whatever else you can find.  Fruit flies have more special needs which are still easy to meet.  

 I have experience breeding:

1) Blaptica dubia Roaches

2) Tenebrio molitor Darkling Beetle

3) Tenebrio obscurus Darkling Beetle

4) Drosophila hydei Fruit Fly

5) Drosophila melanogaster Fruit Fly

6) Hermetia illucens BSF Black Soldier Fly

7) Acheta domestica Crickets

Although they are not exactly insects I have also cultured:

1) Gammarus (scuds)

2) Glass Shrimp (most difficult)

3) Ramshorn Snails (very easy)

4) Sow Bugs

5) Red Wiggler

6) Crayfish

Scuds and Sow Bugs are both Isopods and have more than 6 legs.  I also have experience with honey bees and worms (again not insects but also very useful).  I have not perpetuated them past the original queen but I have maintained several reproducing ant colonies before.  Also, I would not suggest eating fly or fly larvae, but they can still be put to good use as you will see below.  I see no reason why BSF wouldn't be safe, I just cannot bring myself to do it.

Another micro-livestock animal I have some experience with is Guinea Pigs.  They are easy to take care of for the most part.  They have a need for vitamin C just as humans do so be wary of what you are feeding them to make sure they get it.  If they are not getting it regularly you need to supplement it.  They breed at a very young age, mature quickly and are born eating solid food.  There is very minimal suckling.  They have an efficient conversion ratio and a couple of them make a decent meal for a grown man.  I was able to successfully keep them in my apartment with relatively little hassle.  They are usually fed Timothy hay as a staple but I really do not feel that this is necessary as long as they get plenty of roughage.  In Peru guinea pigs are commonly used as food and this is what they were specifically developed for.  They are a meat animal.

Read More: http://www.permies.com/t/19371/rabbits/guinea-pigs-meat-journal

Another micro-livestock animal one can keep would be Quail.  In my opinion they may be a little bit too dirty to keep inside but would fit well on a small patio.  They need a couple square feet of space per bird.  Be sure to provide 40 to 50 square inches of floor area per bird. The interior height of the pens should be about 8 to 10 inches to prevent the active quail from flying up and scalping themselves on the ceiling.  They need a feed about 25% protein.  So let’s say you don’t want to eat your insects.  Just convert them into quail and eat those instead!  They are excellent and efficient meat and egg birds.  They do not generally rear their own young well so you will need to incubate when you want more.  To create your own feed, see below:

1)      An oil source such as black oil sunflower seeds, flax seeds, etc.

2)      A mineral source - kelp works nicely, or molasses in the winter

3)      A green source such as sprouted seeds, grasses, chop n drop herbs and weeds

4)      A high protein grain such as - Hard Red Wheat, Quinoa, Amaranth, Kamut, Rye or Spelt

I do not see any problem with using insects for protein and many use milk products such as kefir and whey.  It seems as though this would be easy stuff to find in local fields or around the house.

Read more:  http://www.permies.com/t/5959/chickens/Making-Chicken-Feed-Quail-Feed

Read more:  http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/coturnix-quail-zmaz81sozraw.aspx#ixzz2UhU7pSeD

http://phys.org/news/2013-05-bugs-food-future.html

Try the Cricket Bar!

Feral Pigs And Wolves - Bringing Nature Into Balance

Feral Hog Distribution

Wolf Distribution

I may be going out on a limb here but I wanted to share some thoughts with you on pigs and wolves.

We have all heard plenty of news about feral hog populations spreading out of control in various parts of the country.  Florida, Texas and California have been mostly over run and large portions of other states have been colonized.  Overall the trend is moving from South to North.

States have been powerless to control established populations.  This is partly do to large litter sizes, young breeding age and ability to produce more than one litter per year.  Part of the problem is a lack of natural pressure from predators.

The best hope for this issue is the rapidly expanding population of wolves which is becoming more and more self sustaining.

Several areas show promise for first contact.  On these maps there are 3 obvious areas where the species are set to collide.

1) Wisconsin has a very healthy wolf population in the North and Central part of the state, which may expand into a small pocket of hogs in the far Western part of the state.  It should be noted that the closest large population of hogs is in Missouri.

2) New Mexico has a small but stable population of wolves in the West and a sizable population of feral hogs in the Eastern and Central portions of the state.

3) Eastern Oregon has a rapidly expanding population of wolves in the East which is on the verge of linking up with a large population of feral hogs in central Oregon.

It is difficult to say what the result of this contact will be.  Will the wolves even predate the pigs at all?  My guess is that they will.  Although pigs are known to violently defend themselves and can put up quite a fight, they are no match for a pack of wolves.  The fact that people use pit bulls to immobilize pigs on hunts just highlights this fact. 
Additionally, it would be quite easy to separate a small piglet from a large litter during the confusion of an attack.  In that respect it may not be necessary for the wolves to even take down adults when there is a steady supply of piglets.

I would also propose that dense pig populations will act as a corridor for the further spread of wolves.  It may be just the edge a still struggling wolf population needs in order to make the final leap to full recovery.  I look forward to following this story in the near future.

More On Yellowstone - Trophic Cascade With Elk, Cutthroat and Lake Trout

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Large-bull-elk-stance

Yellowstone seems to be a wonderful case study for ecological study and restoration.  We have posted previously on Wolves, Elk, Willow, Beavers and Geese in Yellowstone.  Now it appears we can throw Cutthroat Trout, Lake Trout and Grizzly Bear into the mix.

Scientists stumbled upon this fact in an attempt to try and explain declining elk numbers in the park.  They found an interesting connection between declining cutthroat numbers and grizzly predation.  Invasive lake trout introduced by anglers have suppressed cutthroat numbers to the point that grizzly bears are looking elsewhere for food.  Additionally, lake trout cannot replace that niche because they breed in deeper waters where the grizzlies cannot reach them.  The result has been very high predation rates on elk as grizzlies attempt to find a replacement source for protein.

It seems that the more we learn about these systems, the more it highlights how everything is connected.  Change any one aspect and you get a ripple affect.  This is how trophic cascade works.  It is a domino effect that is very difficult to understand.

http://phys.org/news/2013-05-trout-invasion-yellowstone-elk-decline.html

In order to understand the further implications of this please read our other posts.

http://agroregeneration.blogspot.com/2013/02/more-on-beavers-and-trophic-cascade.html

http://agroregeneration.blogspot.com/2013/01/beavers-are-engineers-of-structural.html

Loss of Eastern Hemlock Affects Hydrology Cycles

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Conifer_plantation_on_Fireach_Beag

I am going to get a little preachy on this one.  As many of you may know, Eastern Hemlock is dying out due to the woolly adelgid.  The cited article states that this will have a lasting affect on hydrological cycles in Eastern forests.  The question is, if the loss of JUST ONE species can have such a profound affect, what does the loss of ALMOST EVERY species do?  What changes have taken place since the loss of the American Chestnut?

We need to make some serious changes if logging is going to have any future at all.  Forestry can actually be used to create more resilient, biodiverse and stable ecosystems.  It can be used for good.  Unfortunately the vast majority of the time it is used to create less diverse, brittle and degraded landscapes.  Until we move people back into the landscape as stewards of ecology, the picture you see below will be the norm.  We cannot TRUST big business resource management to make the right decisions.  We need to be there watching them and managing our own properties in a way that reflects our values.

More species diversity and multiple uses are the key to the future of forestry.  Forests should be managed in a way that augments biodiversity, logging, food production, hunting, recreation and soil building.  One should never take precedence over the other.  Anything but a multiple use scenario is wasteful and irresponsible.

http://phys.org/news/2013-05-loss-eastern-hemlock-affect-forest.html

Are there any limits to what willow can do?

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Willow_by_the_Thames_-_geograph.org.uk_-_872834.jpg

Here is what I have read so far about the many uses of willow.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bourgoyen_knotted_willow_and_woodpile.jpg

Stream Erosion Control

Biofiltration
Bioremediation
Browsing
Coppicing
Firewood
Rapid Biomass
Charcoal
Natural Rooting Hormone
Living Fences
Living Structures
Biofuel Production
Basketry
Fishing Nets
Medicinal/Anti-Inflammatory
Living Gabions
Early Bee Forage
Edible Catkins

Tool Handles

Please comment and add to this list!

More on Beavers and Trophic Cascade - Wolves, Elk, Willow, Beavers, and Geese

Willow Grown Diagonally Produce Five Times More Biofuel

Mutualism Is More Than Just Two Species Working Together

Wiki Commons Jan Celliers Park

I found this particular article interesting to show how mutualism expands beyond an interaction between two species.  There are complex connections throughout nature that hold together well established systems.  Upsetting any one factor can throw the whole system out of balance, causing ripples in the population dynamics of all species involved.

In this case, fig wasps lay their eggs in the seed ovules of the fig.  The larvae feed on the seeds so for every wasp larvae, one seed is lost.  However, the wasps fertilize and disperse the pollen of the fig so it is advantageous for them to sacrifice some seeds in order to pass on their genes.

It becomes obvious that the wasps could potentially take up all the seeds and put the trees genetic heritage at risk.  In comes another parasitic wasp which preys on the pollinator wasp.  The parasitic wasp injects its eggs directly through the fruit into the ovule.  Their larvae then feed on the pollinator wasp larvae.  The effect of this is that the pollinator wasps tend to concentrate their egg laying in the middle of the fruit, where the parasitic wasp cannot reach.  In the well protected interior of the fruit, the larvae are safe from parasites and can complete their life cycle.  

The result is that the outer ovules are safe from the pollinator parasites and those seeds are able to mature and pass on the trees genetics.  The tree needs BOTH wasp species to maintain a balance.  Even this scenario is an oversimplification.  There are probably other species and environmental factors that come into play here as well.  Upsetting any part of this and you will no doubt develop a pest problem.  The population of all species in the system needs to remain stable for it to work correctly.

These are the types of interactions that begin to take place in a well established food forest or garden.  It is important that increasing biodiversity and stability be maintained in order for these mutualistic interactions to develop.  If you eliminate any one species, the consequences could be profound and you may end up running counter productive to the overall productivity of your system.  It is impossible to actively control the population of undesirable garden species without affecting their natural biological controls....  and the species they are connected to.... and the species connected to them...

If you diminish the biological control, they cannot be effective when the prey species rebounds.  Complicated biological controls often take longer to develop and stabilize than the species they prey on.  This leaves the system vulnerable in the meantime.  If you take matters into your own hands, you become responsible for the control of that pest species forever more.  The system becomes addicted to that response.  In this respect,  even organic control measures have a profoundly disruptive effect.

Traditional African Ranching Practices Teach Lessons In Ecology Based Agriculture

http://predatoraware.wildlifedirect.org/2008/11/13/lions-in-the-camp/

It appears that we can learn a lesson from grazing practices in East Africa.  For thousands of years pastoralists have been using “Boma” enclosures to protect cattle herds at night.  They are made of thorny shrubs and branches woven together into an impregnable mass.  This makes for a formidable enclosure that is very difficult for predators to enter.  The Bomas are generally used for about one year until they move on to a new one.

The magic happens after the cattle leave.  The area becomes very lush.  Initially it is protected from the drying action of sun and wind by the shelter of the enclosure.  Months of urine and manure application result in extremely eutrophic conditions, but once released from pressure, a hyper-fertile environment results.  Soil becomes richer, thicker and retains more moisture.

Pasture in former Boma enclosures shows better growth and drought resistance.  Native plant and animal biodiversity increases.  Population densities go up.  Plant growth and vigor are augmented.  Grass quality is better and tree growth accelerates.

This shows some parallels with rotational grazing as well as chicken tractor food forest initiation similar to what is shown in Geoff Lawton’s videos.  The effects of this form of human augmentation have been shown to last for as much as 100 years after the departure of the cattle.  Since the area is basically laid waste, it is more of a succession based regime as opposed to a rotational regime which augments and sustains the pasture system that is already in place.

Savannahs have succession regimes as well so this could be a valuable tool in broad scale permaculture and ecology based agriculture.  As the Bomas break down, self mulching would be something to take into account.  Some tweaking could possible to turn this into a very useful regime in combination with landscape scale animal rotations.  Moving your sacrifice or permanent holding paddock once a year and making your operation more mobile within its own property context could actually result in greater fertility in the long run.  The area could be used to plant trees or a garden afterwards or simply to create a patch of very fertile pasture.  The possibilities are limitless.

http://phys.org/news/2013-05-traditional-ranching-african-savanna.html