There is more to my gardens than just plants. My animal family is also a part of my gardens. In the front yard by my house, I have 3 dogs. Barkley, the dachshund/shiatsu/blue heeler who thinks he is the protector; Franklin John aka Franky, the 8-month-old brown Aussie who is still very much a puppy; and Ziggy, the 13-year-old deaf & blind wiener dog who is grumpy and has to go everywhere dad goes. All 3 dogs believe the garage is their doghouse and won’t stay anywhere else unless they are by our side.
Barkley doesn’t look like a mean dog but he’s known to bite ankles. I do apologize that I have a dog like that but I love him and nobody will take him off my hands. He is one loyal dog and very affectionate to my family and any type of animal smaller than him. He befriends animals such as mice, possums, birds, frogs, and kittens but he hates anything bigger than him. He is an absolute delight when he gets to walk in the gardens and smell all his favorite flowers.
Franky is my baby with a lot of energy. I like taking him to run freely at our friend’s farm but since it’s been so wet I have had to keep him away from the pond and puddles. I have no idea if he can swim but he’s not afraid of jumping off cliffs and into the pond. Since we can’t go run around at the farm, his enjoyment is running around the house on our hardwood floors, sliding around and looking like a moose on ice. He’s sweet as can be but definitely still needs to learn a lot about behavior. He has this strange fascination with cicadas where he likes to put them in his mouth and let them fly inside his mouth. He doesn’t eat them; he just likes them flapping around inside his mouth.
Ziggy is the man of the house. He’s been in trouble a lot lately so he doesn’t get as much freedom as he used to. His main goal in life now is to hunt and kill frogs & chickens and nap. I have had to put up many barriers to keep him away from my chickens. I try putting him inside but if dad isn’t in the house with him he will bark miserably until you release him to be with his humans.
In the south yard we have a multitude of rabbits. This is the first year in 20 years living on Main Street that we haven’t had an overwhelming number of feral cats. So instead, we have an abundance of cotton tail rabbits that have made their home in my gardens. I would estimate we have between 15-20 rabbits living here. They are not afraid of us and go on about their day like they own the place. I only had issues with the rabbits eating plants in the early spring. Now they just help mow down the grass. There’s also a pair of squirrels and at least six sets of doves that join them in the gardens.
In the backyard I have 5 Polish chickens that are about 4 months old. This is my first-time owning chickens. I jumped right into raising them without knowing what I was doing when I found the breed I had wanted at the local farm supply. We started with nine but the old, deaf, and blind wiener dog eliminated 4 of them for me. Now, I must keep the entries into the back gardens and plant nursery gated up at all times until eventually I can get the chickens moved to the top yard and safe from Ziggy.
We have a silver laced rooster named ‘Fabio’, a silver laced hen (The Queen Chicken) named ‘Fran’, a white top black hen named ‘Doris Taylor’ and 2 golden laced hens named ‘Thelma’ and ‘Louise’.
Raising chickens has been a delight. They started life inside the greenhouse when I first got them. When they quickly outgrew the cage we kept them in, we moved them outside into an area we enclosed with bamboo gates and lattice board. This is where Ziggy figured out he could trap them and fulfill his natural instincts. After losing 4 girls to the miniature beast in the matter of minutes, I made the decision to let them free range so they had ample area to escape his wrath.
Chickens are curious creatures. They do not like piles and will knock one down within minutes by scurrying their feet and stomping it out. They kicked out all of my mulch in my tropical bed because it didn’t lay flat. This completely wasted many hardworking hours since I had just laid new mulch a few days before. Although it was disappointing that they ruined my hard work, it was quite entertaining to watch them scurry around and flatten the area in no time.
I learned the hard way that chickens can devour plants within minutes when I tried giving them protecting from a rainstorm inside my greenhouse. It took them less than 30 minutes to destroy a good amount of my private selection of succulents that day. I was devastated and decided to put them in the north vegetable garden, as far away from the greenhouse as possible. That didn’t work well either, they destroyed Chris’s prized pumpkins instantly. So back they went to my nursery plant yard and will stay there until the vegetables are done growing for the year.
In the nursery plant yard, the chickens are incredible for bug control. They do occasionally knock over containers and step on some plants but only because they are chasing bugs. They rummage around all day long chasing grasshoppers, moths, and beetles. They expect treats every time they see us and flock together to follow us around until we bring them something they like to eat. They are quite spoiled and very picky. I am beginning to think they have become territorial though. If I walk through the area without giving them treats, one of the hens will run up behind me and peck gently at my leg.
Yesterday I walked down to check on Fran because she didn’t greet me with the other chickens. I called for her and she didn’t budge. Instead, she remained roosted up on a tree support dangling her head down towards the ground like she w a s hiding. As I began watching her, I noticed she was waiting to catch a grasshopper that was jumping in the grasses below her. I turned away to walk back to the greenhouse when all of a sudden she flew off her roost and directly into my legs. I was about 40 yards away from her but she flew into me so precisely that I think she may have meant to do it on purpose. I will be clipping her wings shortly.
Fabio, the rooster, isn’t as protective of the yard but he is very protective of the hens. He follows me around and will notice if I am watching out for Ziggy when I am working close to the gates. He will stand still watching beside me and if Ziggy appears on the other side, he will quickly round up the girls. I swear in chicken voice he yells ‘get back’ and nudges them around until they are grouped together and run off to safety.
Garden life without my animals would not be the same or as enjoyable to me. They are definitely a pain in the caboose but they are part of my family and bring even more joy to me and my gardens.
Charla Ingram is a plant, nature and golfing enthusiast who, along with her husband Chris, owns and operates C&C Garden in the small town of Bessie, Oklahoma.