Pest counts: interesting but inconsistent.
Ground cleanup: noticeably improved in several sections.
Damage from over-scratching: real.
Predation: real.
Daniel read everything.
“What do you think?”
Toby looked tired.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel smiled slightly.
“That’s different.”
“What?”
“Three weeks ago you knew.”
Toby frowned.
“I thought I knew.”
“Better.”
Toby looked down.
“If you want me to stop, I will.”
Daniel studied the notebook.
“Do you think you should?”
Toby was silent for a long time.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I was measuring the wrong thing.”
Daniel looked up.
“What should you be measuring?”
“Not whether they kill enough insects.”
“Then what?”
Toby turned several pages.
“Everything they change.”
He pointed.
“Eggs offset feed.”
Another line.
“Cleanup time goes down.”
Another.
“Some insect pressure is lower.”
Another.
“Some fertilizer need might change.”
“Maybe.”
“I know.”
Toby nodded.
“And there are costs. Fence. Birds. Labor. Damage.”
Daniel leaned back.
“So?”
“So I need longer.”
“How much?”
“Six weeks.”
Daniel laughed.
“No.”
“Four.”
“Toby.”
“Three.”
Daniel looked toward Rachel.
She was washing dishes and pretending not to listen.
“Rachel?”
“I am not joining this.”
“You’re his mother.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel looked back at Toby.
“We have to decide on Harland’s program.”
“I know.”
“In three weeks.”
“I know.”
“If we wait too long, we lose the application window.”
“I know.”
Daniel stared.
Toby finally said, “Give me until the decision.”
“And if the numbers don’t justify continuing?”
“I stop.”
“No argument.”
“No argument.”
Daniel extended his hand.
Toby shook it.
The next three weeks changed the quality of Toby’s work.
He stopped behaving like someone trying to prove an idea.
He behaved like someone trying to disprove it.
That difference was enormous.
He asked:
Where are the birds useless?
Where do they create damage?
Which pests remain unchanged?
How much time is actually required?
What does feed cost if egg production declines further?
How many birds can be lost before the economics fail?
He began weighing collected eggs.
Tracking sale value.
Tracking home consumption separately because eggs eaten by the family still had value but not cash income.
He measured how long orchard-floor cleanup took in controls versus managed sections.
He documented sections requiring mowing.
He noted weed suppression.
He inspected tree trunks for damage.
He found very little direct harm there because the birds focused on the ground.
He began identifying insects more carefully.
An extension agent helped confirm several specimens.
Some were pests.
Others beneficial.
That complicated things further.
The chickens did not distinguish.
Toby added another note.
Possible downside: birds consume beneficial ground insects too. Need better sampling.
Daniel read that one and smiled.
“What?”
“You’re getting less enthusiastic.”
“That’s good.”
“Why?”
“Means you’re learning.”
Harland visited once during those weeks.
He did not laugh this time.
He walked the rows.
Observed the fencing.
Looked at the birds.
“You’ve lost weight.”