Thursday, October 7, 2010

Chickens and more chickens, oh my!

We have about 60 to 70 chickens on the ranch. Why so many?  They help us with keeping the fly population down during the summer fly season.  They also eat the slugs in the pastures. The ranch is on the watershed to the Ocqueoc River. So when the pastures are wet, we can have slugs.  The slugs can carry a worm larve that if ingested by the Alpacas can cause neurological problems or even death in the Alpaca.  So having the chickens helps us with our worming protocol on the ranch.  The chickens are allowed to free range and the eggs taste wonderful. 

2 comments:

  1. Wow! I have a place near Hillman. I will have to stop by for a visit sometime. My blog is at longlakeyarns.net

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  2. We are neighbors! Yes a visit would be wonderful. It has to be by appointment only,as we are not always available here at the ranch and we have to tie up the guard dogs when new visitors are expected. I look forward to visiting your blog.

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