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Link animals to the planting plan

Plan crops and animals together so manure feeds the soil, animals graze cover crops and crop waste, and part of the garden grows feed. Coordinate with the animals module before you fix bed positions.

How

1. Read the animals module steps on manure handling (animals-9), feed and fodder (animals-8) and rotational grazing (animals-7), and mark the coop, rabbit hutches and manure store on your crop placement plan (food-27).
2. Route chicken and rabbit manure and bedding through the compost system (food-12) before it goes on food beds. If you use raw manure, follow your country's rule. Example, USA organic rule: incorporate it at least 120 days before harvest for crops whose edible part touches soil, 90 days for others.
3. Put heavy feeders that benefit most from compost (squash, maize, potatoes, cabbage family) in beds that receive finished compost first in the rotation.
4. Graze poultry or small livestock on cover crops and finished beds where practical: SARE notes grazed cover crops return manure and organic matter to the soil. Keep animals out of beds with growing food crops.
5. Size feed crops honestly. A laying hen eats about 113 g (0.25 lb) of feed a day, and grain and treats should be no more than about 10% of her diet (Oklahoma State). Garden surplus supplements a balanced ration; it does not replace it.
6. Check the law before feeding any kitchen scraps. Example, Great Britain: it is illegal to feed catering waste, kitchen scraps, meat or meat products to farmed animals, even pets. This includes vegetarian kitchens that use milk (APHA). Where scraps are banned, send them to compost (food-12).
7. If you grow cassava for animal feed, process it first: FAO notes chopped roots spread overnight, sun drying or ensiling release most of the cyanide.

Safety: Legal: in Great Britain, and some other countries, kitchen scraps must not be fed to poultry, pigs or other farmed animals. They can spread African and Classical swine fever and foot and mouth disease (APHA). Check your national rule. Raw manure can carry pathogens: compost it fully, wash hands after handling animals and manure, and wash produce eaten raw.

Do these first

• animals-7
• animals-8
• animals-9
• food-24

Sources

1. Soil building: manures and composts. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program, accessed 2026-11
2. 10 Ways Cover Crops Enhance Soil Health. SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education), accessed 2026-11
3. Making Compost. Colorado State University Extension, accessed 2026-11
4. Backyard flock production. Oklahoma State University Extension, accessed 2026-11
5. Save and Grow: Cassava, Chapter 7: Harvest, post-harvest and value addition. FAO, accessed 2026-11
6. APHA warns not to feed kitchen scraps to farm animals because of disease risk. Animal and Plant Health Agency, GOV.UK, accessed 2026-11

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