Chicken Jungle

Last year we were experiencing a terrible drought with high temperatures in the 100s for days at a time.  Over the course of the summer, the chickens ate every bit of plant material they could find in their pen.  As illustrated in this post from early May, there appeared to be very little grass left in their pen.

http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2013/05/free-ranging-chickens.html

We've had quite a bit of rain this spring and the situation has changed.  Instead of bare dirt in their pen, they now have a jungle to explore.  Here's what I mean.

As you can see, there is still some bare dirt up next to the coop itself.  They tend to spend the hottest part of the day in this area since it is shaded from the afternoon sun. 

Those tall plants are sunflowers.  Last year, I gave the chickens some black-oil sunflower seeds, like we feed the birds.  Just wanted to see if they would eat them.  They pecked at them and ignored them until I got a brick and crushed the outer hull of some of the seeds to expose the inner part.  Once they realized there was a yummy center to these odd black objects, then they gobbled them up.  But, obviously, some of the seeds escaped being eaten and germinated this spring.  They provide a nice shady area where the chickens seek refuge from the morning sun and under which they enjoy hunting for bugs.

Unintended consequences sometimes are a good thing!