My adventure here began with various tasks, but the one that touched me the most was looking after the chickens.
It was Sarah, another volunteer who had arrived several weeks before me, who showed me how to look after them. I’d always heard my dad’s childhood stories about living in the countryside, butchering chickens …
It’s a bit different here, of course.
Chickens contribute to the natural fertilisation of the soil, firstly by scratching, which aerates the soil and facilitates the penetration of air and water. Secondly, their droppings are a natural fertiliser rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, essential for plant growth. Chickens also play a role in pest control, eating slugs, snails and other invertebrates that can damage plants.
Finally, in our daily lives, hens play a major role in recycling our vegetable waste and also in providing us with eggs. These two issues are linked, since their nutritional diversification contributes to the good quality of their eggs.
That’s how I spent my first fifteen mornings, after waking up, opening their enclosure, cleaning their cage with a mixture of ash and sand, feeding them grains, calcium and green plants.
The hens have finally got used to seeing me and recognise me when I walk by their henhouse. Now they know that I’m there to bring them good food and love, twice a day! When I open their cage, they don’t run off as far as they did in the early days. They stay close to me and even follow me! (That’s not the case with all the volunteers :P).