Sure I know Tetsuwan Dash! Used to love that programme: so sad they lost it all to the radiation... I actually came across it looking for a Japanese equivalent to River Cottage, an ongoing series done by a British chef who moved to the countryside some twenty years ago now. Actually, I've been coming to Japan pretty much regularly for the past twenty years now, ever since I studied it at university, so we were probably both in the country at the same time at some point or other. I actually wrote part of an essay on aigamo ducks once. While I won't be using them myself, I will be using chickens to do pretty much what you described: control pests and fertilise the soil all while they make eggs! It's too bad I didn't know about you (I just wasn't paying attention...) when I lived in Tokyo: those meetups you guys are organising look good fun!