Big Gray

This is Big Gray. She's the boss. Out of our 11 chickens at Shaun's house, she is first in the pecking order, first up in the morning and pretty much is the queen of the coop. She doesn't really have to peck at the other's to assert her dominance, but when that scrap of stale tortilla hits the ground the others know not to be in her way.

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The other day, I observed her doing something curious. I've seen chickens peck at lots of inedible things like... say wood or rocks. But usually they figure it out after a couple of trys. Anyways, Big Gray was plucking the wire that the cylindrical feeder was suspended from. What was strange was that she kept at it, which made the feeder bob back and forth. Then I figured it out. The chickens feed from the rim at the bottom of the feeder. Their voracious appetites eventually exhaust the food supply for the day, but Big Gray has learned to cock her head into the top to see if there is food in the center. Then she expertly shakes the feeder back and forth and jostles the feed out to the edge where she can get it. Birds, as a rule are not said to be very intelligent (Ravens and Jays notwithstanding) but this impressed me.

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Having chickens has been fun and beneficial in a number of ways, besides getting some mighty tasty eggs. Chickens will eat anything. ANYTHING. Have some chips that went stale, or some lettuce that is a little ratty? It's OK, they'll take care of it in matter of minutes. And yes, just because I was curious, I fed them some chicken one day (am I going to hell for that?). They enjoyed the turkey bacon I fed them today as well. I almost never have to throw anything organic away, and the rest can go in the compost pile. The only thing they will not eat, for a reason I can not fathom, are mint leaves.

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With all the leaf litter on the ground in Corvallis this time of year, I figured I'd let the birds handle it. Inside the coop, with their constant scratching and movement, it only takes a few weeks for the leaves to get trampled into a fine duff that will be great organic matter for the garden. On top of that, the chickens deposit one of the finest nitrogen sources around in the leaves. One man's trash is another man's treasure...