We just have a couple of Chickies and let them roam though our gardens. Last year they did a great job of pest control. They did a little damage here and there, scratched up a nice looking moss bed, enjoyed a few tomatoes and pulled out quite a few of my window blind plant markers but there was very little damage overall. I couldn't hardly weed an area that they weren't right there under my nose looking for bugs and worms. My garden was about as pest free as I have ever seen it.
They spent a good bit of time in my stonewall flower bed which has always been a haven for slugs. This year the hostas and other plants were well protected and I saw very little slug damage.
Ric grew potatoes in barrels filled with a mix of compost, straw and soil and they would hop up on the edge of the barrel and we had no potato bug problems. Here is Sally checking out the harvest.
So my question is does anyone know if they will eat squash bugs? I just keep thinking that they smell so bad that maybe they would taste bad and the Chickies wouldn't eat them.
We had a terrible infestation of squash bugs (we call them stink bugs as they smell so bad) several years ago. So I haven't been growing any pumpkins, gourds or squash for the last couple of years. I'd like to try some ornamental gourds and maybe a few watermelon or cantaloupe this year. If I knew that the Chickies would eat the squash bugs I would be more likely to try them again.
Hello HollyAnn and welcome to the poultry forum!
I love your pics! Your "pest control" units are darling! LOL
My chickens wouldn't touch stink bugs.. I had them bad on the zucchini and considered not growing them this year cause of it.. eew!
Thanks ZZ I was afraid of that. We got the girls last Easter they were a present from one of my sons. He has a couple of dozen of chickens and some guineas. We use to keep a doz or so of laying hens when the kids were young but it has been years since we had any. Last Easter he gave me 3 chicks and said if I got tired of them I could send them back. But they really have become pets. They follow us around the yard when we are out gardening and working. I posted a few pics of them last summer on the P&L Forum.
This is Henry our Barred Rock.
Her name is Henry? I love it!
Yep, I have a Buff Orpington Sally from the song "Lay down Sally" I use to have a goat named Sally.
Barred Rock Henry just because she looks like a Henry. I guess she should be a Henrietta but she is just Henry. My Dad is Henry so my parents got a real laugh from that.
Then there is Pat the Partridge Cochin. My Grandson was here today, his Dad is the one that gave me the chickies. He was pretty sad, something got several of their chickens last night. I think they lost 2 chickens and a large guinea. So he followed me around all day while I was working in the garden and he would take worms and grubs down to feed the chickies.
Pretty Pest Control LOL
Here is a pretty good pic of Pat.
I wonder if the guineas would eat the stink bugs? I'd put up with the noise to have those nasty bugs gone! LOL
I don't know? One of the reasons my Son wanted the Guineas was to keep down the bugs especially the ticks. They use to let them roam until they started going just a bit too far on to a neighbors property. So last year they had to pen them in a yard. They let the chickens loose too but had problems with hawks so they are in a yard now, too.
