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Read what Mike Thomas, columnist for the
Orlando Sentinel has written about the Foodspa. Chicken
coop, cooperation fight hunger
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Help
For The Hungry
Helping
the world's hungry feed themselves.
An
organization inspired by the Foodspa Project in the Dominican Republic
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The Foodspa – A Sustainable Food Machine
For Nutrition
Rescue in Developing Rural Areas
As of April 2005, The Foodspa shown here
has been replaced by the
Family Hoop House
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Yellow
Hair Indicates Malnutrition
Click
Here for a poem describing the sites and sounds of the village.
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These
banana leaves will become topsoil. Click on the picture above to see more photos
of Foodspa in the Dominican Republic.
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The Foodspa produces:
 | Eggs
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| 2
kinds of white meat
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| Bio
fertilizer that protects the animals from disease
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| Rainwater
surpluses
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Goals of the Project Include
| Getting Pigs and Chickens out of the streets and homes and into
confinement |
| Having manure from the street become soil for the garden |
| Having nutritious foods available |
| Stimulating agricultural enterprise
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The Foodspa, a portable poultry-swine paddock, is designed
to achieve multiple immediate benefits to severely malnourished families.
The Foodspa introduces participating families to
agricultural practices that should result in their learning how to earn a profit
from pigs and chickens.
| Future related projects are intended to teach
small-scale commercial activities using up to 50 hogs and several hundred
chickens. In its current
configuration, the Foodspa can be used immediately to provide food for a needy
family while teaching basic principles for the larger scale activities. |
Click on the
picture of the rebar pig dome to learn how this could become the next
step in introducing agriculture.
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Inspired by an emerging project in the Dominican Republic,
Stephen Keel has combined his experience building portable backyard chicken
coops with a growing knowledge base achieved by Joel Salatin at Polyface Farms
in Swoppe, VA. Joel has mixed hogs and poultry for several years. His larger
scale activities have been the inspiration for the current family-oriented
portable paddock, the Foodspa.
Eggs
Eggs have been identified as an important food source for
people suffering from malnutrition. Because
of their fragile nature, it may be impractical to provide eggs from a commercial
poultry operation. Having families
become proficient at raising chickens for egg production more than doubles the
benefit of this project. Fresh eggs are available 10 months out of the year and
practical training in poultry husbandry occurs.
2 Kinds of White Meat
Although eggs from laying hens are the primary source of
nutrition, the male chicks that come naturally produce white meat.
The Foodspa is designed to be divided into two compartments downstairs.
Pigs and chickens cohabitate very well while the pig is small. Once the
pig weighs about 70 pounds, he will eat the chickens.
By periodically installing and de-installing a panel that divides the
bottom of the Foodspa into two compartments, the unit can be used to raise the
hog to a larger size or to start a second flock of small chickens that will
become both meat and/or a replacement flock for the current set of laying hens.
Bio fertilizer that protects the animals from disease
In most developing rural areas egg and meat production are
retarded by the lack of feeds commonly used in developed countries. Although
there is, to the rural farmer, an apparent advantage to allowing the animals to
forage, the decreased production is often so pronounced that the effort to
produce eggs and meat are abandoned.
Chickens and pigs can eat the same feed. By confining the
animals in a bedded paddock, the remnant value of the manure is economically
retained as bio fertilizer is produced. The
manure of non-confined animals usually results in waste.
Poultry and swine manure can be efficiently composted into a nitrogen
rich bio fertilizer. Pig root deep and chicken scratch shallow. By periodically
seeding the bedding with cracked corn it is possible to encourage the rooting of
the pigs, hastening the composting process, producing a crop of excellent
fertilizer every 30-45 days.
In the Dominican Republic, farming frequently occurs on
side hills in depleted soil. The
Foodspa is designed to use a 100 square foot plot of level ground to produce
multiple crops of eggs, meat and a bio fertilizer that is light and easily
transported to hillside gardens. This
fertilizer may also be sold as a cash crop, helping to defray or pay the costs
of feed. Once a local family demonstrates the productivity of their crops using
this fertilizer, their neighbors will willing buy, barter or trade to gain
access to this fertilizer.
A major advantage of composting bedding is that disease is
controlled by the activities of the bacteria that are doing the work of turning
animal manures and the green manures added by owner into bio fertilizer.
In addition to being smelly and dirty, stationary coops and pens that do
not use the composting bedding tend to build up harmful bacteria over a period
of time. Composting bedding is both clean and odor free.
Although this claim may seem preposterous, the proof is clearly
demonstrated in the poultry houses at Polyface Farms. While a typical commercial
chicken house usually contains vile smells of urea and manure, the swine/poultry
houses at Polyface farms are remarkable for the absence of these smells.
Rainwater Surpluses
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The addition of a simple gutter assures water for the
animals during raining seasons. Surplus water may be captured for
household use.
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One bucket has nipples suitable for chickens. The
other bucket has a nipple suitable for pigs. The chicken bucket is higher
than the pig bucket. By adding an extension to the gutter, an additional
one or two water containers can catch extra water.
Delivering Foodspa to a rural area
The components for 20
Foodspas can fit in a single ocean going cargo container.
Family responsibilities
The participating family
must provide a 20’ circular pad of biodegradable green manure on a
level piece of ground. This can be
composed of nearly any green plant material that is easily harvested and
transported. A manual relying
heavily on photographs will be used in conjunction with training provided by the
sponsoring agency.
Feed Security
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The roof protecting the feed storage reservoir
slides forward on drawer slides. Feed goes in easily, but can only be
removed by the animals inside. The system will hold 150 pounds of feed. For two pigs and 10
chickens, this will last approximately 1-6 weeks depending on the size
of the pigs.
By moving
the unit often, compost is made faster. A simple wheel/lever on the side
assists frequent circular motion moves.
The three nests
pictured here have inclined floors allowing the eggs to roll into a
catch area accessible through a door on the side of the system.
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The Dominican
Republic project has the sponsoring agency providing chicken feed for an
introductory period of time. Once the system become profitable, the
family should be able to purchase their own feeds.
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Animal Density Considerations
Commercial standards exist for the number of animals that
can be kept in a bedded paddock. We have met these standards. We have chosen 2
pigs as they always do better in pairs. 10 hens will happily exist with 2 pigs.
When the pigs reach 70-80 pounds, a divider must be placed between the pigs
and the chickens to protect the chickens from the pigs. Pigs larger than 150
pounds should not be kept in the Foodspa.
Other Activities
For information regarding other third world development
activities pursued by Stephen Keel, the inventor of the Foodspa, visit http://aproverbaday.org
to learn how radio broadcasts of Bible teachings from the Book of Proverbs are
being used to teach English as a second language.
We
had a Pig Pick'n, June 1, 2002
Click
Here For Details
