Locust plagues, God's art and chickens

I am starting to hear the word plague in connection to the locust swarms in various parts of the world right now.  Many are fighting for their lives and livelihoods as we speak.  I wonder, are locusts a part of God's art too?  Is it that they are tiny little demons that must be wiped out?  Is this God's wrath poured out?  Or is it a normal consequence of?

Locusts are an interesting, hit you when your down, sort of insect.  We don't have locust swarms here in the North but we do have grasshoppers.  A few years back, we had a severe seven year drought.  It wiped out the wheat crops and livestock were sold to avoid them all starving to death.  Ranchers wept openly in the Church we attended.  They were being crushed by their staggering losses.  Many talked of the grasshoppers which seemed to relish the conditions.  Mostly the bugs added to the overall feeling of hopelessness. 

It was a rough time.  Who could afford the to be spaying and what would be the point?  But the grasshopper comments got me thinking.  If we were agile enough, couldn't we take advantage of the bugs instead of fighting those as well?

My efforts in gardening have been to avoid any kind of chemical intervention.  I have an autoimmune disease called MCS (multiple chemical sensitivities).  That basically means my body attacks itself when it encounters synthetics.  Paint, carpet, garden chemicals... you name it, if God didn't make it, I react to it.  That gives me extra incentive to learn alternatives to chemical fertilizers or pesticides.  So is there are non chemical solution to a locusts and grasshoppers?

YES!! Chickens!! I use chickens all the time to wipe out the latest bug bloom in my garden.  Did you know that one chicken can eat 600 locusts a day?  When you are facing billions that might not seem like a lot, but if in mass, locusts don't stand a chance.  What if instead of raising crops when locusts storms are looming, we raised birds?  far fetched?  China is finding great success using chickens to control their own locust infestations.  

But back again to God's art.  I believe in the world that God created, it is all about balance.  In gardening holistically, balance is everything.  It's really about bringing your land back to God's original intent.  If we move in harmony with His art, we are blessed with wonderful bounty.  When we move against it, eventually our house of cards will fall.  When we tip the scales and bring the world out of balance, the ripples spread far and wide.  Hmmm balance, what does it take to find it?