Chickens and grasshoppers

I woke up this morning to the sweet soft chirps of chickens just out side my bedroom window. They are much more enjoyable than the bird that starts screeching at four thirty every morning. The enthusiasm they show in there job is commendable. I spend way to much time every day herding grasshoppers into their cage but everybody has to have a hobby.

Why the big chickens can’t share in the enjoyment of the feast or even at least eat the hoppers that bounce off of their beaks is beyond me. They don’t like life in the big fancy chicken tractor we (he) built for them. If the rooster were a horse I would say he has started weaving indicating stress over his loss of freedom. If he starts cribbing I will be impressed. They could have continued to roam free through out the yard if not for that fateful day in April when they discovered the green house.

The baby Peppers were freshly set out after sprouting in the house and achieving their first real leaves. It was a warm spring day warm enough to roll up the sides and let some fresh cool air in. As we worked about the yard, I may even have gone for a nice ride, they found it. They, all two of them, squeezed under the side and feasted on fresh pepper plants. Carefully nipping the steam off of each plant. We are just lucky they didn’t like the tomatoes.

And so work began on the chicken tractor.