Compost in the run...

[Janice123456]

I'm planning on putting in a fenced in area in the run where I will put compost . This will keep them busy. Presently I'm using compost to do black soldier fly larvae farming. This is an amazing way to get chicken fresh bugs from composting all kitchen scrapes. I've been able to get lots of larvae with little effort. There is a lot of info on web describing how to do it. I simply put fruit and vegetable scrapes in a bucket with opening on top . Waited about a week then checked the bucket . There were thousands of larvae. The chickens fight over this . They will follow you anywhere with these bugs lol. There are systems where you can set up ramps so the mature larvae will simply crawl out of the bucket into your chickens feed dish. Amazing

 

[allpeepedout]

An easy way to simulate the entertainment and nutritional value of foraging is to get bales of leafy alfalfa hay. Toss a flake or two of hay a day in the run, and they'll stay busy tearing it up and eating the leaves. Alfalfa is high in protein and calcium, compared to grasses. If you can find second or third cutting, it usually has more leafy material.

Leftover stems act as bedding in the run. Rake out leftovers every week or two and add this to your compost pile.

 

[21hens-incharge]

An easy way to simulate the entertainment and nutritional value of foraging is to get bales of leafy alfalfa hay. Toss a flake or two of hay a day in the run, and they'll stay busy tearing it up and eating the leaves. Alfalfa is high in protein and calcium, compared to grasses. If you can find second or third cutting, it usually has more leafy material.

Leftover stems act as bedding in the run. Rake out leftovers every week or two and add this to your compost pile.

Good suggestion. It will make the compost even better in the long run too.
I do that for my gals in the winter.