Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Ducks
Ducks are particularly helpful in areas inhabited by slugs and insects such as earwigs,
cockroaches, and crickets. Their beaks probe the ground around trees and shrubs and
bushes looking for all those luscious little slimy mollusks, as well as earthworms, in-
sects, and larvae that may be found under the litter in and around your garden.
Guinea Fowl
Guineas provide a wonderful dryland alternative for insect control. Their diet is predom-
inantly insects when allowed to consume them. Given only moderate amounts of grain,
they will go in search of grasshoppers, crickets, and cockroaches — any sort of bugs
that they can find.
I've observed them even eating squash bugs, the very nasty-tasting, stinky-smelling
insects that do so much damage to squash and melons. They will work their hearts out
looking for green cabbage-moth caterpillar. They have a keen eye and a good sense
of where the insects are located. I've seen them moving through an orchard getting
grasshoppers on a daily basis; each day they rush out of their pen and move farther along
in the orchard to where the grasshoppers have not yet been eliminated.
The Bug Patrol at work
Poultry for Pleasure
The beauty of a poultry flock and the entertainment they provide are reasons enough to
raise them. Just seeing them in your yard after a long, hard stint at work can turn your
whole day around. When the stresses of modern society and the pressures brought on
by technological advances have wreaked havoc with your nerves, coming home, turning
