A chicken hard at work scratching up compacted bedding
A cow pie is money, and I like to get it back in the soil “bank” as soon as possible. Of course, I’d rather not spend my time following around the cow with a rake to spread the manure out as soon as it hits the ground. I’ve got chickens lined up to do that job for me.
It’s the permaculture principle of putting things where they ought to go, but I think of it as having the animals doing their own work.
We’ve moved our chicken tractors into the pasture areas, and we let them roam around during the day to forage in the grass. They are learning that there are bugs living in the older cow pies. It doesn’t take long for a chicken to scratch a load of manure up and spread it over the grass–that’s one of the things they do best.
- A freshly deposited cow pie
This is a concept Joel Salatin has championed at Polyface farms in Virginia, and which is getting more popular elsewhere. For egg farmers, the idea is sometimes called an “eggmobile” because the chicken pen is mobile and comes into the pasture a few days after the cows have left. (See Natures Harmony Farm for an example) Since I only have a couple acres, and a small pasture, the chickens get to be mobile and the pen stays put. read more »
