This morning we did a thorough stall cleaning at the barn in anticipation of being out of the country next Saturday. This involves really cleaning down to the dirt in each horse stall, and then laying down a 3 inch layer of fresh sawdust.
I rolled each barrel of manure back to a pile we call the Crappalachians. This pile takes on the shape of a mountain range. In the spring of each year we hint to local gardeners that we have composted manure for the taking and we hope they do take it.
Today it dawned on me that we have a whole feces based ecosystem back at the barn.
I saw a flock of chickadees picking at the manure for any undigested grain left behind. We have tons of birds back there.
I have seen squirrels and rabbits doing the same.
We always have a few mice. We have snakes that eat the mice. We have hawks and owls that eat both snakes and mice.
All this from horse manure.
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3 comments:
What kind of snakes? How big?
I hate snakes! My friend told me that you all have copperheads there. Is that true?
Yes we do have snakes. Black snakes are big, like 3 feet long. Yes we have copperheads and they are only a foot or so but are dangerous.
Sounds like quite the food chain going on at your place!
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