Fabulous New Breed of Slug Eating Hens?

[Renee]

Hi chicken lovers,

I got my first issue of English Garden Magazine today, and they had TWO (count 'em) articles with chickens in the garden. In both articles, the slug-eating capabilities of these birds were emphasized. Chickens are a gardener's best friend, it seems, poking around the marigolds, keeping the garden pest-free.

I have to admit, as an avid gardener, I was sucked into this fantasy myself and was a tad bit horrified at what real chickens actually do to gardens. I felt compelled to write this letter to the editor:


To the Editor,

I received my first issue of English Garden today and it is a wonderful magazine. The two-page photograph of Rosemary Verey’s Laburnum Tunnel is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes upon. I look forward to the next issue with bated breath.

I have one question: where did Nicole Gooch and David Drake get their incredible breed of slug-eating chickens? Maybe American chickens are not as well-bred; my chickens eat the garden, not the slugs. They prefer pansies and lilies, but nasturtiums will do in a pinch, especially if they can scratch the ground bare in the general vicinity first.

Very truly yours,
Renee

Do you think they'll print it?

 

[onedozenphyllises]

That's hilarious! I won't let my chickens anywhere NEAR my garden, unless it's off-season and I want their help prepping it for next year. I learned quickly that they'll indiscriminately eat the herbs and veggies, and uproot young, tender transplants so they can dust bathe in the dirt.

 

[silkiechicken]

LOL, yeah, ducks eat slugs, but my chickens don't like sticky things on their beaks. Here in the PNW at least, our slugs get bigger than golf balls when scrunched up, and can't be swallowed by a chicken since it's bigger than their heads!

 

[Pepper]

I put old beginning to rot logs in the run specifically to attract slugs cause my girls LOVE them. I flip the logs on occasion and they are so thrilled.

I agree with your letter--in no time my garden was reduced to DIRT- (perfect for end of season though)---never again free ranging in there!

 

[19hhbelgian]

That's funny

I think you should send it in, although I'm not sure it would get printed

my girls LOVED my cone flowers this year

Apparently nothng else was good enough for their well developed palates... Thank god! Although planting new grass has been a chore! I keep blaming all the new holes in the groung on my piggie cause DH can't make me keep her locked in the house!! The chickies we can just put in the coop for a while, but boy do they get cranky... And let's face it, there's way more of them than there is of me!!!

 

[AmyRey]

Ugh. My girls have found my tomatoes. The tomatoes themselves and not the huge green hornworms eating the leaves.

Gotta get something to keep them out of them soon.

 

[Renee]

Oh, 19hhbelgian, you better believe I sent it in.

Mind you, these are ENGLISH gardens these chickens are supposedly roaming about. You know, the ones with the cascading walls of scented climbing roses and flower borders twelve feet wide and little boxwood hedges trimmed into knot-gardens? Yeah. Right.

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

WOW! I want some of those chickens! We have banana slugs here and I would love to quit stepping on them bare foot!!!!

My chickens won't eat slugs, or earthworms.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
Pick the hornworms off (before they get the size of your finger) and offer them to the chickens. That's what I did with the caterpillars on my fruit trees. The girls LOVED them!

And EWWWWWW on stepping on banana slugs barefoot. Yucky.

OP let us know if it gets printed. I don't have any slugs, but I have lots of rolly polly bugs and earwigs.

 

[rhodiegal]

Too funny!

I have to admit I was duped as well. I've always heard people talk about chickens eating bugs off vegetable plants and contemplated it myself. I am glad I didn't!!