Fall Leaves

[rosemarythyme]

I save up as much of it as I can for use in deep litter and compost year round. I have several piles drying and waiting for bagging, hoping to get about 15 bags or so of dried leaves stored.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

All my fall leaves (and we have a lot) go into the chicken run. We have a large fenced run, but the extra organic matter the leaves provide really help control odors and manure buildup in the run.

The chickens constantly scratch and turn over the leaves, so by spring they're completely broken down. I put tons of material into the run every year, and never take any out. It's pretty amazing, really.

It's great fun to dump a barrel of leaves into a heap and watch them run up and spread it out, finding little bits of mixed in grass to nibble on along the way.

 

[Broken H]

I put a couple wheelbarrow loads of leaves inside my coop and another couple in the yard. Let them root and scratch through it. I’m a couple weeks shovel it all out mixed with their droppings into the potato patch. Will be beautifully broken down by spring.

 

[JimnRuth]

They destroyed the pine straw in my front flower beds. Took some left of a bale and spread it in their run along with some more from the pines next to the coop.

 

[Fishkeeper]

You don't even have to bother spreading them out in the coop or run, the chickens will do that for you! Plus, you get to enjoy all the rustling noises of chickens scratching around.