Compost and hens

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Mbean15

Mbean15

In the Brooder
May 10, 2016
53
2
44
TX
My husband is composting in the yard, but he's tossing potato skins in the compost pile.
I know green potato skins are bad for chickens, so should I keep them away from the pile? Is there an amount of time they shouldn't go near a compost pile?
 
I have found that my chickens don't consume things that are bad for them or don't taste good so I wouldn't worry.
 
Thank you everyone for the answers! I appreciate it.

My girls very rarely eat treats anyway. Its going to be just my luck they won't eat watermelon or cabbage but they'll eat lethal potato skins
 
They'll be fine. Chickens have been scouring barn yard compost piles for thousands of years. If potato peels were an issue, chickens would have been keeling over dead for just as many years!
 
I am new to chickens but my housemate, a real earth mother type who's had chickens in the past, does take a pretty easy going 'chickens have been doing their thing for thousands of years' attitude. These chickens are my 'project' but she's enjoying them quite a bit, too. So, our chicken pen is turning into quite a compost yard! We've been processing apples lately and she just dumps all the apple cores and skins into the pen. I have two concerns, 1) apples rotting/fermenting in the yard 2) apples attracting yellow jackets, which are out in force lately. There is also a lot of squash and other garden refuse in there. Do chickens deal with yellow jackets (eat them) or are they in danger? Is the compost yard ok for them? I need to go back and read all the other post (might have answers to my questions) but this is on my mind right now.
 
whytebyrd said:
I am new to chickens but my housemate, a real earth mother type who's had chickens in the past, does take a pretty easy going 'chickens have been doing their thing for thousands of years' attitude. These chickens are my 'project' but she's enjoying them quite a bit, too. So, our chicken pen is turning into quite a compost yard! We've been processing apples lately and she just dumps all the apple cores and skins into the pen. I have two concerns, 1) apples rotting/fermenting in the yard 2) apples attracting yellow jackets, which are out in force lately. There is also a lot of squash and other garden refuse in there. Do chickens deal with yellow jackets (eat them) or are they in danger? Is the compost yard ok for them? I need to go back and read all the other post (might have answers to my questions) but this is on my mind right now.
Click to expand...
I am processing fruit from our two apple trees, three pear trees, and about 3 plum trees. I dump all my excess fruit waste into our two different chicken pens. It's fine, the wasps i find leave them alone and vice versa. It is possible it attracts them, but after a day or two, their completely covered in dirt and compost, etc. from the chickens turning them into the ground that it doesn't interest them anymore. The only concern is that feeding them too many scraps, lessens them eating their protein rich feed, resulting potentially in less eggs maybe but I haven't found that the case yet. My young girls lay everyday just about an egg unless the weather spikes to hotter temperatures than they'd care for.
 

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