Added a ton of leaves to the coop and run= chicken heaven!

[cstronks]

I did this in my coop a few weeks ago. The chickens really enjoyed it. They scratch the leaves into little tiny pieces, so I kept adding them every now and then. I even mixed some in with the shavings on the inside to save pine. Worked just was well and they really do love just scratching the leaves. It also kind of gives your birds a foraging opportunity if they don't get the chance to free range a lot. Throw a whole bunch of leaves in there and then sprinkle in oats, seeds. and other small snacks that will fall through the leaves. The chickens will love searching for the treats through the leaves!

 

[ll]

I collected 2 dozen leaf bags today to store in the garage, so happy!

 

[Lee Nelson]

I am glad you mentioned about leaves since I have dumped a couple bags into the coop the last couple of weeks, sort of edging toward the deep litter method. It is really cold here right now and the litter and poop freezes, but when we get a day above freezing, then all that waste makes the air pretty bad, but the litter is still frozen so I cannot clean it out right now. We basically have to wait until several days of spring weather before the next coop cleaning. So I came up with dumping bags of leaves into the coop, and it makes the atmosphere a lot nicer--almost like I cleaned the coop! I was just concerned with the leaves getting into their open waterer and possibly tainting the water. No worries right now, though.

 

[TOP KNOT]

I am glad you mentioned about leaves since I have dumped a couple bags into the coop the last couple of weeks, sort of edging toward the deep litter method. It is really cold here right now and the litter and poop freezes, but when we get a day above freezing, then all that waste makes the air pretty bad, but the litter is still frozen so I cannot clean it out right now. We basically have to wait until several days of spring weather before the next coop cleaning. So I came up with dumping bags of leaves into the coop, and it makes the atmosphere a lot nicer--almost like I cleaned the coop! I was just concerned with the leaves getting into their open waterer and possibly tainting the water. No worries right now, though.

Hello, what I usually do is have them stored in the garden shed in a huge tarp. When Its time they need a little freshening up I first turn the coop floor with a pitch fork, chop a bale of hay and dump it in a pile. Then I use an old pine shavings bag and fill it with leaves and dump it on top of that, sprinkle a few oats and stir it in. The next thing you know is they have it all spread out nicely. The manure under the perch bars I usually put pine shaving over it to control the ammonia. As far as the water, I have had no problems yet, I have heated bowls up on bricks. I keep the water in the corner and dump the leaves/chopped hay in center of run/coop. Daily I also bring two buckets, one full of water and one empty. I dump out the old water into the empty bucket and fill the bowl back up up all in one step. Quick and easy. I want to get a brush on a stick to quickly swish out any clingers on the bottom, I do give it a rinse with fresh water for now. in the colder months slimy growth in the bowl really isn't a problem. It takes awhile to make leaf tea, a daily dump will fix that.