How my chickens help me compost while line dancing.

[codybird]

I built a tractor awhile back to hold my "Gang of Six".

Of course it got too heavy to really be easily moved so I built a PVC/net stealth addition to it to give them a little more yard area.

The area the tractor was in was covered in dead leaves so that became the floor of the run. I figured I would rake it out every now and then, to keep down the smell. After two weeks (no smell yet), I raked out all of the leaves and my lovelies had turned it in to shredded pre-compost, laced with organic, nitrogen rich , chicken goodness pellets.

Being the multi-tasking son-of-a-gun that I am, I had the thought to replace the worked over leaves with more un-worked leaves. I have four years worth of leaves that I have saved because I knew they would be needed one day.

I am happy to say that my compost pile is as healthy as a cow. Teeming with all manner of wormy, larval occupants and not exhibiting a particle of olfactory unpleasantness.

When the new leaf floor goes into the run, the girls act like I cranked up a Reba line dance song and they begin cutting a rug
(for a bug)( so they can chug)(the errant slug).

I'm so easy to entertain.

 

[Featherland]

I save my leaves for the run also. They love it. It's like you gave them treats. Every once in a while I remove them and put them in my compost pile. The past couple years I have had the best gardens and I never add any fertilizer except from my compost pile.

 

[ranchhand]

Very cool idea! I have done it recently in the runs, just for their (and my) entertainment.

 

[yellowroseli]

OMG I do this with my leaves also. The girls love it and it keeps them busy all day. Just make sure you do not use leaves that have been sprayed with any chemical.
I have a small yard, so this fall I will be asking my neighbors for their leaves.

 

[AmyRey]

Quote:
Something is wrong with you. lol

 

[joletabey]

Codybird,
You are FUNNY!!!!
Cut a rug for a slug or a bug where they dug - rates a hug for the chicks and a smile on your mug.

 

[mamaKate]

Thanks for the mental picture of chickens in cowboy hats. lol

 

[alamogirl]

Funny! Love the chicken poem. I knew they liked country music!

 

[Im4dabirds]

Hubby's started bagging the grass clippings for them. They love it and have them mostly eaten or shredded and composting by the time he's got the next load for them. Works great!

 

[Chicken Ninja]

Every time we trim back our trees, we throw some of the branches into the chicken run.

Come back a day later, and you have all the leaves removed.

They just love leaves and grass clippings.