LaRue, our Leghorn rooster, will call the hens over with a special cluck when he finds a tasty treat while foraging. He lets the girls eat first, so when we’re tossing bread to them (an occasional treat), he doesn’t usually get to eat much of it. Not so for the leader of the ducks, Tiberius.

We flipped over some pavers that have been filling a puddle and there were lots of worms under there. The chickens ran over when they realized what was going on, as did Ty and his girls. The chickens pulled up quite a few of the worms, but the ducks were deadeyes. Their bills seem particularly well-suited to pulling the worms from the soil in one piece; pulling them out with fingers can cause them to tear in half. Ty, in particular, gobbled up some of the biggest and juiciest-looking ones. Did he call the ducks over to share the bounty? Nope. He just ate as many as he saw.

While he’s clearly not a gentleman when it comes to food, maybe that’s because he’s nearly twice the ducks’ size and therefore needs to find a lot of food to stay in fighting shape. He does a good job keeping the ducks safe and he even chases LaRue off from time to time. We haven’t lost any of the ducks since their wings were clipped last year, and we hope they continue to stay safe under Ty’s watchful guard.

Warmer weather has brought forth the bugs – including ticks, it seems. We would have included a pic of the one we spotted, but we squished it before it could escape. They don’t move very quickly, but they’re small and dark-colored enough that if they dropped into the grass, you wouldn’t be able to find the tick again.

Of course, the chickens and ducks were nowhere near when the tick was discovered. They had just feasted on worms, grubs, and other bugs that were unearthed when we turned over logs in an old woodpile and a big piece of plywood that had been out for a while (and if earthworms really are an indicator of soil health, ours seems to be respectable). Theoretically, though, chickens and ducks will eat ticks. Continue reading “Spring Brings Ticks, Too” →

The bugs are here. Tiny gnats, big flies, spiders, moths, even small grasshoppers – the bugs have reappeared after winter’s retreat. Well, maybe winter hasn’t fully retreated yet – there’s snow in the forecast for next Sunday…but it’s also supposed to be 48 degrees. The emergence of bugs means the chickens and ducks will eat as many creeping, crawling creatures as they can catch, and be less reliant on their premade feed. The ducks are worm, tick, and fly-eating machines, too. It’s in their nature: ducks and chickens are omnivorous, and bugs are a great protein source.

A downside to warmer weather and the reappearance of bugs is that most of them seem to bite. In no time, we’ll be sporting welts, bumps, and scabs all over any exposed skin (especially legs) from mosquito bites and other bloodthirsty insects. Continue reading “Spring Showers Bring…Bugs” →