The chickens ate our garden!

The other day, my son left our garden fence open while the chickens were out. And low and behold, the chickens got in the garden and ATE IT ALL. All my seed starts I had started for the Spring season are completely chewed!

OMG I WAS SOOO MAD!

After assessing the damage, I decided to walk to the chicken coop to get the eggs for the day. To my great surprise, there were a whopping 15 eggs in the coop waiting for me. 15 eggs! This was in a matter of 2 days. We typically get 1 egg per day from each chicken (we have 6) so it should have technically been 12 eggs. However there were FIFTEEN. I immediately released the anger that I was holding from the garden and gave thanks and praises.

This is the beauty of homesteading. Where there is loss in one area, there was surplus in another. Who can be mad at that?

Having chickens and a garden in close proximity to each other definitely has its challenges. It sometimes feels counterproductive because chickens eat gardens. They love to eat most of the plants we grow. Even with having a fence around the garden, we’ve taken many plant losses.

BUT

On the flip side of that, chicken poop is amazing garden fertilizer. Their scratching the soil helps seed germination and soil health. And then after they’ve eaten good they go back to the coop and lay extra eggs!

This is the beautiful ecosystem that is homesteading. It really helps you to look at things from a bigger perspective. Release the frustration and just go with the flow.