Dry Leaves in Chicken Run

[LilHitzel]

I put old leaves from the ground all around my property in the chicken run. These girls are THRILLED. They’ve been foraging through this all day.

This is safe, right? They don’t leave their huge run, and I just realized that I may have disturbed the bacteria/biodiversity that they’re used to. I have corrid on hand in case they’ve been exposed.

 

[NanaK]

Yes and they love it!
Just added a big hill of leaves and straw to my run too. They have a great time spreading them out.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I do this for mine as well! They love it!

 

[Jakemedic]

Us too, place a big pile of hay in their run and come back tomorrow, it’s all spread out! They work hard at it too!

 

[Sally PB]

You've heard the phrase, "They did that in 10 minutes flat!" Whoever coined that phrase was talking about my chickens, with a pile of leaves.

Big pile of leaves. 10 minutes later, they're spread out and the pile is flat. Gone.

They LOVE piles of leaves. They have a blast scratching through them, finding... whatever they find.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Yep! I store 8. big bags in the shed and give them a bag every week or so during the winter. They love it and it keeps their feet cozy and dry.

 

[SueT]

We have trees around and over our run, so lots of leaves fall into the run…

 

[rosemarythyme]

I dump 4-6" of leaves in my run every fall, and have more bags in reserve for later in the year. These are the leftover bags from last year, the greenhouse is now stacked to the ceiling with bags of dried leaves. Makes for fantastic compost!

 

[RoyalChick]

I love watching them destroy a big heap.
I tip a lawn bag in the run and they all go for it.
Some climb to the top and dig their way down while others dig in from the edges.
Lots of happy little chirps as they work.

 

[Red Mangrove]

It's good for their health to expose them to leaves and dirt from all over your property