On the other hand, while we make everything neat and tidy, the chickens are following behind us and creating their own idea of perfection - like trimming all of the barley they can reach through a wire barrier put up to exclude them, nipping bites out of all of my comfrey leaves, and making dust-bathing holes in the middle of my nicely-mulched garden.
They just look like they're having such a good time...I can neaten up later.
Oh yes, chickens are tremendous "helpers." Mine do a smashing job of unmulching everything I mulch. :) I let them help stir up the litter in their coop by tossing in a handful of chicken scratch every day.
ReplyDeleteI too direct them with scratch :) I've been spraying my fruit trees with a jet of water from the hose to minimize my canker worm 'issue,' and then getting them to clean up the little buggers once they've fallen to the ground. I keep my scratch in a large canning jar, and the chickens actually come running when I shake it! I know there's a trade-off in the process, because my slug and sawfly problems are lessened by their presence, and there's the eggs of course, but sometimes I wish they'd wait a day before they mess things up...
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