Editing Permaculture (section)

=== Domesticated animals ===
{{see also|Rice-duck farming}}

[[File:Garden chicks and herbs - Flickr - hardworkinghippy , La Ferme de Sourrou.jpg|thumb|Chicken roaming in an herb garden]]

[[List of domesticated animals|Domesticated animals]] are often incorporated into site design.{{sfn|Mollison|1988|p=5|ps=: '[[Deer]], rabbits, sheep, and [[herbivorous]] fish are very useful to us, in that they convert unusable herbage to acceptable human food. Animals represent a valid method of storing inedible vegetation as food.'}}<ref name="permaculture.org">{{Cite web |title=Backyard Animals |url=http://www.permaculture.org/resources/backyard-animals/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217221136/http://www.permaculture.org/resources/backyard-animals/ |archive-date=17 December 2014 |access-date=6 April 2017 |website=Permaculture.org}}</ref> Activities that contribute to the system include: foraging to cycle nutrients, clearing fallen fruit, weed maintenance, spreading seeds, and pest maintenance. Nutrients are cycled by animals, transformed from their less digestible form (such as grass or twigs) into more nutrient-dense manure.<ref name="permaculture.org" />

Multiple animals can contribute, including cows, goats, chickens, geese, turkey, rabbits, and worms. An example is chickens who can be used to scratch over the soil, thus breaking down the [[topsoil]] and using fecal matter as manure. Factors such as timing and habits are critical. For example, animals require much more daily attention than plants.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 March 2016 |title=Permaculture Animals as a Discipline to the System |url=http://permaculturenews.org/2016/03/07/permaculture-animals-as-a-discipline-to-the-system/ |access-date=6 April 2017 |website=The Permaculture Research Institute}}</ref>