swimming with the chickens

The other day a neighbor stopped by after a fishing trip. They had caught some bluefish and did not want all of them, and stopped in to see if we had a use for them. 

In years past, bluefish has gone into the smoker for a bit until edible. Takes some time but so worth it, smoking an oily fish like the bluefish makes for a rich tasting and nice and moist fish. 

But on that day we didn't have a moment to spare. So the fish went to the chickens. And they tore it up!

Except for the one pen of birds, the red sex links/Asa reds that were given to us. Those birds barely touched their fish. Another reason I'm partial to the heritage breeds of laying hens...they are just better at taking anything and converting it to big, beautiful eggs!

And then what was left went into the compost. Most growing guides mention adding fish meal and bone meal to the soil. We've got that.