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Canada: Hooligan Hens provides a chicken visit in the city as a natural ‘pesticide’

Backyard bug problem? Send in the hens to do the dirty work

By Jennifer Dorozio
CBC News
Sep 08, 2020

Excerpt:

It’s a common fixation for backyard gardeners in Calgary: how to beat what’s eating their harvest.

The appearance of critters like slugs, aphids and cabbage moths typically means gardeners have to decide whether to leave them be or attempt some sort of pest control.

Well, there’s a new-but-old-school method of ridding a garden of invaders this year: hungry hens.

A southern Alberta company called Hooligan Hens brings chickens to your garden for a couple of hours at a time. The chickens get to work chowing down on critters in their path.

“If you had chickens running free range all day, it would be really hard on the grass. The poop that they produce is very, very rich and could burn a garden. But if they are only there for a little bit, it’s perfect fertilizer,” said Muriel Pagart, owner of Hooligan Hens.

“You don’t get flies or other animals coming to look for chickens that you would get on a farm … so you get pretty much all of the benefits and none of the detriment.”

Read the complete article here.