Old boards make worm buffet for chickens

A
couple of weeks ago, Mark figured out that the old
boards tacking down
the bottom edge of our pasture fence were attracting scads of
earthworms.  He tipped a board up and the hens came running,
eating up the worms in seconds.  Ever since, he’s made it a habit
to flip up a board or two when he goes in to gather the eggs in the
evening.  I keep thinking that we’d run out of worms, but new
worms keep appearing to take the old ones’ place.



The trick to attracting
earthworms seems to be placing a moist object
on top of bare soil, and damp cardboard is even more effective
than boards.  We’re currently experimenting with laying down
sheets of cardboard in the pasture to create a worm buffet for the
flock and will let you know if we come up with anything higher tech
that works better.