RYE FOR FOWL - THE WORD OF WISDOM

I found this anecdotal info on the web.  I think I will pay more attention to the little things in our scriptures.  I needed a cover crop for a field that had been used for boarding horses who tore up the first few inches of the soil with their hooves.  The soil was plenty fertile - but nothing but (really obnoxious) weeds would grow there.

I looked for the cheapest seeds I could find that had good coverage and the rye was it.  We planted it and some other cover grasses.  The grasses did not do well and the weeds eventually took completely over.  The rye, however, was able to grow quickly in dry soil conditions and took off, choking out the weeds.  In the fall I noticed the domesticated ducks and the wild pheasants were spending ALOT of time in that area of the farm working away on the seed heads.  Fowl love rye!  The pheasants in the area tripled in the year - not sure if it was from the abundance of food and they had a large brood or if others from outside the area were attracted to the large supply of food.

Here is something on the net that I found that noted the same thing:

When I was little, I visited my grandfather on his farm. He had me bring a bag of rye grain in from the barn. A mouse must have chewed a hole in the sack, because as I struggled with the heavy bag, I left a trail of rye all the way across the barnyard. My grandfather was upset at me for not noticing the hole and for wasting it. Later on, he thanked me. He said the chickens ate the rye and for the next several weeks they laid the biggest, strongest, richest eggs he had ever seen. So the WoW is spot on - "rye for fowl"!