let my chickens roam

**forestdale** · 11-23-2004, 11:14 PM

I've had quite the morning with birds today. I decided to let my chickens roam through the vegetable garden this morning. There's nothing in there I care to save except for the herbs and for some reason the chickens never seem to peck at them. So far they've turned over the compost heap for me and eaten a stack of grasshoppers - all that extra protein will surely manifest itself in bigger and richer eggs. I'm going to put them in there every day until it gets really hot. They can clean up the garden and eat all the insects, old seeds, silverbeet, lettuces and their seedheads and old tomatoes that the parrots didn't bother with. Hopefully, they'll grow pleasantly plump while doing some easy care gardening.

The other bird we had here today was a Kookaburra (kingfisher). DS found it because Hettie Wainthrope Private Detective, our cat, was staring down the back of some cupboards in our shed. The bird was stuck down there. We removed Hettie and she decided to spread eagle herself on the shed floor while we proded the bird. Finally we got it to the edge of the cupboards where it had a clear flightpath out. And did it go! Like a jetplane, the kookaburra took off, realised it was still inside and then dive bombed Hettie who was still spread eagled on the floor. Boy, did she move fast!

All in all a good day for the birds on our little homestead. But Hettie still thinks she's the superior being on the block.