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Organic farmer Nicolas Netien feeds retired farm hens with scraps of leftover food at a farm, where hens are used to fertilize and mow olive groves in a pilot project, which has boosted crop yields and helped combat disease, in Akaki, Cyprus, February 19. [Yiannis Kourtoglou\/Reuters]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
AKAKI \u2013 Organic farmers in Cyprus have recruited hundreds of retired hens to fertilize olive groves in a pilot project they say boosts yields, counters disease, and helps to manage food waste.<\/p>\n
Saved from slaughter after their egg-laying years, hens peck and poop to their hearts\u2019 content among olive trees at the organically certified Akaki Grove, on the green foothills of the Troodos mountains west of Nicosia.<\/p>\n
In a back-to-basics approach, farmer and grove owner Elena Christoforos and soil engineer Nicolas Netien have launched the Kot-Kot project. They collect food waste donations to feed hens, which in turn provide natural fertilizer for olive trees producing oil high in inflammation-busting polyphenols.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe provide them with an old hens\u2019 home, they come here and retire,\u201d said Christoforos, surrounded by clucking chickens while emptying bins of food waste donated by schoolchildren.<\/p>\n Hens reduce the presence of pests such as olive fly, a scourge for olive farmers in the Mediterranean, by pecking at larvae while simultaneously clearing surface weed cover.<\/p>\n Their droppings enrich the soil, and feeding them with food waste reduces the amount of methane-producing organic matter going into landfill.<\/p>\n The hens can enjoy a long retirement among the olive trees, living for 8-10 years despite only laying eggs until the age of 2.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal here is to create a biodiverse, self-sustained ecosystem that can sustain really high temperatures and long droughts. So when I bring animals into the system by eating ground cover and pooping, it speeds up the cycle,\u201d Netien said.<\/p>\n Netien, who holds the world record for producing olive oil with the highest polyphenol content, said olive tree growth and yields had improved markedly since the hens arrived. [Reuters]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"retired-hens-revitalize-cyprus-olive-groves0\"](\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/2025-02-24T094016Z_1363882615_RC2KXCAOCD0A_RTRMADP_5_ENVIRONMENT-CYPRUS-ORGANIC-FARMING.jpg?1740401890177\")