The Grazed orchard concept

Basically the idea for our grazed orchard is to fence off ~8 acres with 4 ft. hogwire, protect each tree and put in grazing animals in to control the understory(grass, weeds) and cycle nutrients.  Sounds simple enough right?  In actuality it will be a complex balancing act that will require knowledge in many different aspects of agriculture and sound planning.  There is no perfect species of animal for our unique purpose and we will need to be wise and open minded when it comes to selection.  I have not found an orchard like this around to model ours after and don't know for certain which tree species will tolerate grazers well.  So we are starting off on theoretical knowledge and hope that as we plant trees we will gain the ike that we need to be efficient.
This is the picture that I have in my mind.  ~ 8 acres fenced with 4 ft bezinal hogwire.  240 trees planted 30 feet apart in rows that run straight, but as level as possible, with 30 ft spacing between rows.  We will have 20 trees each of Ulu, coconut, citrus, avocado, lychee, macadamia.  We will also plant 10 mango and 10 mixed fruit trees.  The Idea of having many different fruit trees will not only add diversity of available food, but will show us what species works best in our system and serve as a model for others thinking about doing similar agriculture.  We will also grow 100 mangosteen trees. Specific varieties will include, but are not limited to:


Ulu - Rare autia(tahiti), Lipet(Pohnpei), Maafala(samoa), Yap(duh), Meinpadahk(pohnpei), Afara(tahiti), Ulu(hawaii), Puou(Samoa), Meitehid(Pohnpei), Ulu tala(Samoa), and Meiarephe(pohnpei).ulu varieties

Coconut - Malayan red dwarf, Malayan yellow dwarf, select productive tall trees.coconut varities

Citrus - Tahitian lime, meyers lemon, flame grapefruit, navel orange, valencia orange, tangerine, tangelo.
citrus varieties
Avocado - Kahaluu, Kainaliu, Hakalau(wild on Property), Murashige, John Holley,
avos
Mango - Tommy Atkins, Florigon, Keitt.
mango varieties
Lychee - Kaimana, Kwai mai, Groff
lychee
Mixed Trees - Durian, starfruit, rambutan, longan,

Macadamia - Kau, Makai, Keaau, Keahou.
macs
Mangosteen - 100 trees with a lemondrop mangosteen planted in the same hole as a rootstock(grafted onto tree to increase vigor)
mangosteen
Fruit trees cost money and some of the trees we desire are hard to find, so we will plant trees as they become available.
Finding the right animal for our orchard is a tough job.  Qualities we are looking for include being hardy and disease resistant, relatively short, controls grass and other weeds, low maintenance(labor input), and is productive in terms of meat and reproduction.  There are animals that are favorable for some qualities and poor for others, and anything over 5 feet or 500 pounds are out because they would damage the trees(cows, horses, etc.)  Here's a few that I have been looking up with brief descriptions.

Dorper sheep - is a hybrid sheep with a great meat carcass that has shedding wool that does not need to be sheared.  It is not too tall and very productive.  A ewe can lamb 3 times in 2 years and have twins 50% of the time.  It would graze well on grass and weeds.  The drawback of Dorpers and sheep in general are that Hakalau is too wet.  Sheep in wet areas are prone to hoof rot and other foot sickness.  Treatments include fungicidal foot baths and periodic inspection and trimming of hooves and might be more work than we are willing to take on.
dorpers
Barbados Blackbelly sheep - This breed of sheep was developed in the humid tropics of the Caribbean.  They are noted for foot rot resistance, parasite resistance, and fertility.  Their main draw back is their small size, although meat is said to be lean and non "muttony".  As far as sheep health goes this may be the best fit for our climate.  A cross with dorper sheep might be the ultimate sheep for us.
Blackbellies
Mouflon sheep - horned hair sheep with good lean meat but small body size.  Introduced as a game animal they are hardy and thrive on the Big island.  The ewes have single births once a year.  Hakalau is wet for mouflon, but I think they would be healthier than most domestic breeds.
mouflon
Goats - There are many types of goats that would do well in our orchard, but the meat is less favorable than other animals.
goats
Kunekune pigs - This interesting pig from New Zealand is a miniature pig(-300lbs) that can be fed grass alone.  In my opinion free range pigs would be easier to manage than sheep and pigs are very prolific.  Kunekune pigs are not available in Hawaii to my knowledge.
kunekunes
Muscovy ducks - eat bugs and slugs and supposedly taste great.
muscovies
Chickens - Eat fruit fly larvae and other pest and different varieties can be used for meat or eggs
chicken breeds
Bees - Pollinate trees and give us honey
bees in hawaii
As with the Fruit trees, animals cost money and can be hard to find.  We will not be able to utilize them until we have put up our fence and tree guards.  I am not sure exactly which animals to use, and may initially use what is available and gradually improve the quality of our herd.



Pros
- No mowing, weeding or poisoning of grass and weeds.
- meat, eggs and honey
- turn competitive grasses and weeds into a 100% organic fertilizer.
- Less input of fertilizers if any
- provide a model for sustainability with little outside inputs, with many types of produce for home use.

Cons
- animals need different amounts of care, work and supplemental feed.
- high initial costs of quality fence, tree guards and livestock.
- some tree species may be incompatible with grazing.
- untried theory that could turn out to be more work and less productive than a conventional orchard.

So the first 6 trees have gone in and I will continue to collect other desired trees and keep searching for the right animals for the job and hopefully they will be available when we have enough money for our fence.