Often these environments try to mimic nature and replicate the
beneficial interactions between species present in nature.
In Joel Salatin's pastured poultry operation, for example, he runs the chickens
on pasture a few days after the cows have grazed there. The cows
graze and mash down the grass to a suitable height for the chickens
to move around in, and the chickens can eat the larvae and flies around
the dried cow dung.
A complete simulation of nature is not viable, however, namely because one
wants to keep out of the system the predators of the livestock. This is one reason
why the idealized situation of chickens running free is simply not viable here.
One of the most striking things in keeping animals is the power of nature to impinge
upon the system and interfere with carefully designed plans of pens, coops, and fences
to keep her out.
This is all to say, today when I went to feed the ducks I found this in the coop.
A large snake, probably about four feet long. We think it is a Texas rat snake,
also known as a chicken snake because they are often found in coops. When I
discovered him, I think he had just eaten a duck egg---you could see an enlarged
lump moving down his body.
The 10 eggs you can see in the corner of this picture are being sat on by one of our
ducks Maddie. She has been putting in an amazing amount of time sitting on the eggs,
staying in the coop all day long by herself while the other ducks are outside swimming
and roaming around. By our reckoning the eggs should start hatching in about another
week. It is very frustrating to be losing them now.
Just yesterday we had seen mice scampering around the coop, attracted by the
food that falls out of the feeder onto the ground. It is a cycle repeated many times:
feed attracts mice and mice attract snakes.
Well, this post is already a bit long, so the conclusion of the story will have to
wait until tomorrow.
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