Sunday, October 01, 2006

Putting the chickens to work.



Inspired by the notion of pigs rooting out perennial weeds, we decided to try a similar ruse with the chickens - making a temporary run out of shade netting and canes around a bed that I cleared yesterday.
We put it up yesterday evening and then transferred 3 of our flock to it first thing this morning. Well I must say, they did not turn out to be willing workers. Where I had thought that they would spend a happy morning scratching up seeds and bugs, in reality they looked dolefully through the netting - one escaped after about ten minutes and headed back to the run - and the others clucked until they attracted the attention of Jasmine. She barked and lunged at the netting and the whole experiment was abandoned.
I have ordered a book on pigs.

3 comments:

Bob said...

Ha ha - that made me laugh. I don't know how many times I've done what I thought was a favour to animals only for them to turn round and look at me as if to say, 'what you made us come here for'? Sheep are very good at this often jumping walls from a field full of grass to one without any.

Jane said...

Sheep seem to be the only animals that are actually MORE stupid than chickens.
I think that I have given these chickens too easy a life with grain and veg. scraps on tap.
Our last chickens were much harder working (before they were eaten by Mr Fox) they would even tackle mice that they unearthed in the flower beds.

Primrose Hill said...

Pigs would be fab, I'd love to get a couple too, although I'm not allowed at the moment. If I ask Gregg to do any more fencing I think he'll hit me!! Need to speak very nicely to the farmer who owns the field over the burn from us, then I might be able to get some!