Fall leaf bags

[Insnesnakos]

Not an expert and guessing...

In the fall I gather great amounts of leaves from my property and put them in the run, my flock goes nuts and spends days tromping them down and eating the bugs that come along with them. Also adds very beneficial organic material to the run.

The leaves are on the trees and, it seems to me, very unlikely to have been sprayed with anything unless they come from fruit trees. Guessing most are very safe for whatever use you have for them.

My big birds like to dig through the leaves, they think it's fun. I tried burning leaves once... the firefighters and ambulance came

 

[K0k0shka]

I collect bagged leaves in the fall - mine and my neighbors' - and store them in a sheltered area, and then use them in my chicken run year-round. They make a great addition to the run litter! Dry leaves + wood chips + whatever other seasonal yard waste there is (mowed grass, weeds from the garden, Christmas tree branches etc.) is the best run bedding.

I think the recommendation for tree spraying is after the trees go dormant in the fall, so I don't think the leaves would be affected. And even that is only for fruit trees (IF people spray). So maybe check with your neighbors and see if they spray and when. Only one of my neighbors has a fruit tree, and I know they don't spray it.

My main problem with the neighbors' leaves is that they collect them mostly from the front of their properties, along the sidewalk and street, and there's quite a bit of trash in there too from uncivilized commuters throwing things out their car windows or kids walking home from school dropping candy wrappers. So I have to be careful when dumping the bags in the run and pick out the trash, which sucks. And of course you have to make sure the leaves are dry when collected, to avoid mold, and since I can't check inside the neighbors' bags for dampness, I just keep an eye/ear out for leaf blower noise or raking noise and take a peek (I'm in a thick suburb and can see all my neighbors) so if I see them collecting on a dry day, I only take those bags. Some neighbors know by now and just leave the bags by my house. Likewise they give me their mowed grass, too.

I don't see why taking bags that have been left on the curb would be a problem. It's not like diving through household trash for sensitive information/belongings... It's just yard waste.

 

[Krux5506]

My local garbage companies would probably be thrilled if people took more bags of leaves off the curb and made less for them to have to pick up and dump. As far as I understand it after talking to a local disposal company owner, towns don't even want organic matter ending up in the landfills, they want people to compost it. So likely any way to mitigate the number of leaf bags at the curb, I'm sure the towns/disposal companies would welcome it...at least around here.

 

[Goldenwahintofboss]

Hello! So it's the season where suburbia will be putting their leaves in bags for municipality to pick up, anyone know if I can take a few? I'd like to use in garden and in the chicken run... Am I overthinking it that some could be harmful .. with pesticides? We don't spray anything on our property..

Thoughts?

I would not take others leaves for that reason. Just go out in the woods and collect some.