MICHELE KAMBAS, of Reuters, reports on how hundreds of “retired” hens are being deployed in a pilot project to boost yields, counter disease and manage food waste…
Akaki, Cyprus
Reuters
Organic farmers in Cyprus have recruited hundreds of retired hens to fertilise olive groves in a pilot project they say boosts yields, counters disease, and helps to manage food waste.
Saved from slaughter after their egg-laying years, hens peck and poop to their hearts’ content among olive trees at the organically certified Akaki Grove, on the green foothills of the Troodos mountains west of Nicosia.
Organic farmers Elena Christoforos and Nicolas Netien feed retired farm hens with scraps of leftover food at a farm, where hens are used to fertilise and mow olive groves in a pilot project, which has boosted crop yields and helped combat disease, in Akaki, Cyprus, on 19th February, 2025. PICTURE: Reuters/Yiannis Kourtoglou
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 fertiliser for olive trees producing oil high in inflammation-busting polyphenols.
“We provide them with an old hens’ home, they come here and retire,” said Christoforos, surrounded by clucking chickens while emptying bins of food waste donated by schoolchildren.
A drone view of an olive grove, where they are used to fertilise and mow olive groves in a pilot project, which has boosted crop yields and helped combat disease, in Akaki, Cyprus, on 19th February, 2025. PICTURE: Reuters/Yiannis Kourtoglou
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.
Their droppings enrich the soil, and feeding them with food waste reduces the amount of methane-producing organic matter going into landfill.
Organic farmer Nicolas Netien feeds retired farm hens with scraps of leftover food at a farm, where hens are used to fertilise and mow olive groves in a pilot project, which has boosted crop yields and helped combat disease, in Akaki, Cyprus, on 19th February, 2025. PICTURE: Reuters/Yiannis Kourtoglou.
The hens can enjoy a long retirement among the olive trees, living for eight to 10 years despite only laying eggs until the age of two.
“The 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,” Netien said.
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.
