So I decided to test my chickens today. We were picking up chicken feed @ the store and also picked up 10 crickets. Our preplanning skills were a bit off though. We also needed to go to the store.I offered to stay in the car so we could leave the AC running and not murder the crickets...errr even though we were going to murder them via chicken later. Anyway my fiance thought they would be fine if we cracked the windows and put them in the shade. We were after a very specific list, and it would only take 5-10 minutes max... and it did. They were more or less baked by the time we got back. So my test was going to fail. I needed LIVE ammo. So I stayed in the car and Jer went to go get 10 more crickets... he came out with 30.
So before I get to the test lets get into the why. My chickens were originally purchased to be a natural form of pest control. Semi-Free breakfast was a bonus. After all for a bug what's more natural than being eaten by a bird? I pretty much loathe bugs and consider cleaning my porch every day a fair trade for not having to deal with bugs. The only chicken I've seen really go after a bug though we don't have any more. Betty became Bob, and had to go back to the breeder sadly. I've seen GlaDos go after bugs... but I'm not actually sure of her success rate. Careening head first into a brick wall to catch a bug never really seemed like that solid of a strategy.
I still gave my chickens the title of: Strike team of feathered bug ninjas. It's a good title.
So what did I forget in the first annual Bug Games? ... my camera of course.
I made kissy noises to get the chickens to come out from whatever shade they were hiding in and sure enough they are spoiled enough that kissy noises create a chicken charge in my direction. Fireys and Dahlia were already there. So I have 30 freaking crickets released right near my house. I suddenly realize that if this fails, man did I screw up. I should have brought the fly swatter. I do NOT want live crickets in my house. Fortunately for me my girls earned their title today. Fireys was the first in before being chased off (she's and Dahlia aren't quite part of the cool-kids group yet. I'm sure in time they'll integrate well though). She got at least 3 of them. Then Peep and Pie were in it to win it. I think Peep managed to get at least half of them single beakedly. Peep is my sweetest chicken, but not usually the one I would have considered to be my best bugger.
So here's the play by play:
Fireys is in first and snags 3 of them before being bulldozed by 4 other chickens and going to hang out on the side lines
Dahlia simply looks completely confused... I'm not actually sure she saw them. The feathers kind of impede her vision a bit. Her score was 0
Peep started bulldozing and grabbing them as fast as possible.
GlaDos tried really hard to get them but only got about 2 due to being slower than Peep
Cadbury looked completely confused and failed to catch any since someone else was faster
Pie successfully caught 2 or 3, and got 2 of Peeps kills when she got distracted by the live ones.
My MVP of today's Bug Games is most definitely Peep. I think Fireys may have been just as good, but sadly didn't get the chance to prove herself due to being sidelined.
All in all a very successful test and I give them an A+
Next time I will video tape it for amusements sake.
So before I get to the test lets get into the why. My chickens were originally purchased to be a natural form of pest control. Semi-Free breakfast was a bonus. After all for a bug what's more natural than being eaten by a bird? I pretty much loathe bugs and consider cleaning my porch every day a fair trade for not having to deal with bugs. The only chicken I've seen really go after a bug though we don't have any more. Betty became Bob, and had to go back to the breeder sadly. I've seen GlaDos go after bugs... but I'm not actually sure of her success rate. Careening head first into a brick wall to catch a bug never really seemed like that solid of a strategy.
I still gave my chickens the title of: Strike team of feathered bug ninjas. It's a good title.
So what did I forget in the first annual Bug Games? ... my camera of course.
I made kissy noises to get the chickens to come out from whatever shade they were hiding in and sure enough they are spoiled enough that kissy noises create a chicken charge in my direction. Fireys and Dahlia were already there. So I have 30 freaking crickets released right near my house. I suddenly realize that if this fails, man did I screw up. I should have brought the fly swatter. I do NOT want live crickets in my house. Fortunately for me my girls earned their title today. Fireys was the first in before being chased off (she's and Dahlia aren't quite part of the cool-kids group yet. I'm sure in time they'll integrate well though). She got at least 3 of them. Then Peep and Pie were in it to win it. I think Peep managed to get at least half of them single beakedly. Peep is my sweetest chicken, but not usually the one I would have considered to be my best bugger.
So here's the play by play:
Fireys is in first and snags 3 of them before being bulldozed by 4 other chickens and going to hang out on the side lines
Dahlia simply looks completely confused... I'm not actually sure she saw them. The feathers kind of impede her vision a bit. Her score was 0
Peep started bulldozing and grabbing them as fast as possible.
GlaDos tried really hard to get them but only got about 2 due to being slower than Peep
Cadbury looked completely confused and failed to catch any since someone else was faster
Pie successfully caught 2 or 3, and got 2 of Peeps kills when she got distracted by the live ones.
My MVP of today's Bug Games is most definitely Peep. I think Fireys may have been just as good, but sadly didn't get the chance to prove herself due to being sidelined.
All in all a very successful test and I give them an A+
Next time I will video tape it for amusements sake.
