Casie Bazay shares her experiences with free-range chickens and horses. She describes a symbiotic existence that reduces flies, feed waste and breaks down manure so that it dries faster.
Source: Horse Network, February 21, 2017.
In addition to the bug-eating behaviors, Bazay shares these benefits:
- Chickens will eat the tiniest piece of grain or other feed dropped on the ground.
- Chickens can help acclimate your horse to weird things on the trail. Their frequent flapping and squawking is a great desensitizer for any green horse.
- Not only do chickens spread manure piles, which will dry the manure out and kill worm larvae, they also eat some of this larvae, which can further reduce your horse’s chance for re-infestation.
- Chicken manure makes great fertilizer for your lawn and horse pasture.