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permaculture - Re: Grasshopper control.

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  • From: Bobbi Chukran <chukran@io.com>
  • To: permaculture@listserv.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Grasshopper control.
  • Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1998 13:46:07 -0600

Jack wrote:
<To add to what Vicki reported about turkeys, not only do they not tear the
>garden up as much as do chickens, but they'll eat adult grasshoppers that
>the chickens turn their noses up at (too hard for a mere chicken to wrestle
>a full-sized Leander grasshopper to the ground, I suspect). The Nosema
>locusta (nematodes, I believe) also work well, around here (central Texas,
>30 - 31 degrees north) you first put it out in February on moist vegetation
>(after a rain or in morning's dew). Also, mowing a wide swath (say, 30 to
>50 yards) around garden areas cuts down on the hoppers greatly by getting
>rid of cover.
>
>When the kids were small, we used to let them ride the grasshoppers, it's a
>lot of fun. Gotta watch those back legs, though!


Jack--Why, you must be a true Texan, tellin' tall tales like that! VBG

Actually, I was thinking of using the chickens in some sort of "chicken
tractor" device, but if they won't eat those little buggers, then I guess
I'd better look for something else. I've heard that the Nolo bait works
well, but haven't tried it yet.

I had thought about guineas, but don't want something that's going to get
out of the fence and get eaten by the neighbor's dogs or cats. Also, we
have a "rule" around here--"no raising of poultry", so I don't want them to
get out and annoy the neighbors. I intend to ignore that rule anyway,
thinking that 2 chickens are pets--I'm not *raising* poultry--especially if
they're both hens!
So, can the guinea's wings be clipped, and if so, is this too cruel to do
to them?

We also have roadrunner families out here, and a neighbor had some guinea
chicks that got eaten by the roadrunners. So there's a lot of challenges
to work around no matter which way I go.

Bobbi C.
chukran@io.com
Leander, TX







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