Hello and welcome to BYC!
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Brilliant Boppo, thanks so much.I looked up compost rings and chickens and find several videos, apparently pioneered by this guy, Mark, Self Sufficient Me, out of Australia, which might be why we haven't noticed it yet here in the boondocks of USA. It looks like a good way to feed them compost and all the attendant composting bugs, and would work great inside the pen, as Percheron chick suggests. But I think you probably still should supplement with some feed, and that would go well inside the coop.
Do they have access to the coop when they are out in the pen? I would expect so. If not, maybe move the feeder with the hens, so they can get the feed while in the pen as well as in the coop. You do need to keep the feed dry, whether your pen is covered will make a difference. Make sure the feed is in a protected space!
Exactly what ive ended up with.Feed inside out of the weather or it will spoil. Compost should be outside so it does get rained on to help decomposition. Setting up the compost inside the run gives them an enrichment and food source when they can't free-range.