Levente Andras wrote:I'm glad you brought up this topic.
I have many hazelnut bushes of different ages (many of them just a couple of years old), as well as several laying hens which I keep semi-free range. Luckily so far, I haven't noticed any nut weevil issues - but in truth, I haven't yet harvested too many nuts either, because my bushes are still quite young.
I've been reluctant to let my hens near the hazelnut bushes, because I've noticed that these plants have superficial roots (especially as I've been mulching them heavily with compost, wood chip, and other organic matter), and the hens can very quickly expose the roots, and even damage (break / tear / shred) the thinner ones.
So I've been wondering: does the advantage of hens keeping the bugs under control outweigh the risks / potential harm of exposed / damaged roots? Will the bushes suffer a setback if their roots are damaged in this way? Will the larger, mature bushes be able to withstand the stress, as opposed to the very young ones?
that's very interesting, I guess you should only let the chickens graze so far that they don't expose bare soil just like you wouldn't let cows overgraze with rotational grazing techniques. As well as moving them under the hazels at strategic times (when the first contaminated nuts start to fall on the ground ) as to break the weevil's cycle.
From what i've seen it would be beneficial to let chickens cut grass quite short at the beginning of winter so that frosts kill the larvae in the soil.
Some beetles are said to prey on the larvaes as well so it may be beneficial too to create habitats for those.
