In Praise of Old Technology: The Gallus-Gallus

What, you may ask, is a Gallus-gallus? The domestic Gallus-gallus is an older garden technology, now having a well-earned return to popularity. It is absolutely the top of the line in horticultural multi-function, and quite possibly the most environmentally friendly investment you will ever make in your garden. Let’s look over some of the features.

When you see one operating, the features which come most clearly to the fore are the two cultivators. These are primarily used for weeding, but can also be deployed in the turning of compost. Though it is not solar-powered (more on this later) the cultivator function is operational throughout the daylight hours.

Cultivator3tand

Flowing on from the cultivation function, the Gallus-gallus also provides a variety of pest removal services, including insect, slug, and snail disposal – and it’s entirely organic! No hazardous residues, no stand-down periods, just one dart and it’s gone. Select models also dispose of small rodents.

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A Bit of Fluff

As readers in New Zealand will have woken to Level 4 Lockdown this morning, and readers in other countries may be wishing they had, I feel that what we all need is a morsel of light-hearted cheer.

In that spirit, therefore, may I present two large fluffy chicken bums…

two fluffy chickens (rear view)

…aka Kryptops (L) and Troodon (R) hard at work in the garden. They work for chicken feed! Ah ha ha ha.

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Adventures with Avians

There are dinosaurs in our back yard. For a given value of dinosaur. “Feathered theropod dinosaurs” is what Wikipedia calls them (not to be confused with the celebrated therocephalian therapsid Purlovia Maxima). One is Troodon and one is Kryptops, and both are hens. Well, technically, only Kryptops is a hen. Troodon (pronounced Troo-don, not Tro-o-don like the original dinosaur) is a pullet.

Troodon (cropped)

And therein lies the problem. A pullet is a teenage hen, more or less, and Troodon turns out to be one of those rebellious teenagers who’s never seen a boundary she didn’t want to cross.

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