Lawn Ladies at Work

What a glorious morning to look out onto my lawn and see the “lawn ladies”, our Cochin bantams, rushing about the gardens searching for buried treasure. I’m glad they feel so committed to that work, as it does make a difference in the amount of insects we see on the plants. Chickens are so funny. You wouldn’t think they were serious natured, but indeed, they are very focused on the work for the day they happen to choose. Sometimes it’s clearing the fallen tree trunks in the wood of ants and grubs. Another day it could be picking grain out of the horses road apples in the pasture, which is one of the reasons I prefer box eggs instead of gathered ones. Miss Easter, the White Rock hen someone left here on Easter Sunday, has chosen as her personal commitment to clear every insect she sees from the “garden of the Pussy Willow fairies”. She’s in plain view of the customers who sit at the table overlooking that garden. What entertainment she provides for city folk who never get to see a chicken that wasn’t fed marigold petals to improve the color of it’s flesh.