It's an odd thing, to have a chicken on one's bed. The reason is simple: my kids fear our dog will kill Mo, and they also fret when Mo is alone for too long in her coop so bring her inside where they can keep an eye on her. They are on constant poop patrol.
Mo is short for Mohawk, because when we bought the little chick, there was a black strip of short feathers along the top of the head, just like a mohawk. The 'do has grown into a poof of feathers. Mo is a Golden Buff Polish chicken, and I have designated her female, because I don't really want a rooster, but at 8 weeks old it's a little early to tell whether Mo will cluck or crow.
Anyway, Mo was looking out the window where several Gulf Fritillary Butterflies were flitting around the Fire Bush plant. She was clucking at them because she recognized them as something yummy to eat. When I pot, I have Mo by me under the oak tree. She scratches in the dirt mainly, and eats ants I think off the gourd that climbs around the composting dirt. Once I found two wings of a Fritillary, and I think the cause of death for this lovely butterfly was Mo.
The butterflies around the Fire Bush reminded me of my upcoming nursery duty: I am to repot half of our Purple Passion Vines to 3gallon size. Yesterday I prepped the area a bit and noticed just about all the Passion Vines have caterpillars on them. A few of the vines aren't suitable to bring to market because they have lost half their leaves. So I spent some time moving caterpillars to one or two select plants, hoping they could happily share one victim and leave the others alone to grow gloriously. Meanwhile Mama Fritillaries keep coming.
So, what I may do is have Mo be a part of the food chain today. I'll keep him with me in the potting area and he can munch on caterpillars if he pleases.
Jim told me today he caught a couple grasshoppers and threw them to the chicken in the coop, and he gobbled them up. So the food chain is in effect.
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