(1007) Beaked and Feathered Grass Cutters

My three egg lay-ers are in one cage. Last week they roamed free in the backyard. One after the other they flew over to my neighbour's and scratched their sink, stove and washing machine top. Granted, they were wired to look for the best nesting site, but it was still a nuisance to risk chicken droppings on a cooking surface.

And so, while all other chickens roam free during daylight hours, those three poor sods are now confined in one rabbit cage. My son and I keep fourteen chickens in our 20x80 feet backyard. We keep them for eggs. A by-product is having a grass-cutting service. We figure it would at least cost $60 monthly to bring in a grass cutter. What really makes it not probable is that there is no back gate. An alien grass cutter would have to traipse past my living area from the front to access the grassy area. Since I don't like the idea of a stranger traversing my living room and kitchen, I resort to dealing with the grass myself.

These chickens are Asian in food preference. They prefer cooked rice to bread. They would eat soaked beans of all sorts early in the morning. Vegetables that are cut, whether cooked or raw, are eaten with gusto with rice and gravy. Yes! They like sweet or salty gravy. They love papaya seeds and skin too. In fact, they eat grains, vegetables, fruits and whatever else we give them. Their all-time favourite is fatty pork. Perhaps it is preferred because of its scarcity. When we eat pork, we save the fatty parts and cut them into small bits to make sure each chicken gets at least a few bites.