Is it safe for the chickens to be eating compost?

[shangri-lafarms]

Yeah I always turn my compost, and the chickens aren't in it everyday anyway, but on occasion they go oer and scratch in it, I never thought it was a problem because I assumed they were just getting bugs...We compost: Hay, chicken poop, fruits, breads, leaves, and coffee grinds, cardboard, newspaper. I never ever put meat in it, so hopefully it will all work out

 

[PAJerry]

There is a fascinating article in the latest issue of Backyard Poultry magazine on this. Seems there is nothing wrong with letting them work the compost, and in a lot of ways it is very beneficial. You can really keep feed costs down and improve the diet of your birds. They also get a lot of exercise scratching though the stuff to get at the 'goodies'.

 

[nnbreeder]

the two reasons not to let them that comes to mind is Botulism poisoning and the fact that Gapeworms are carried by Earthworms. Gapeworms are nasty things that attach themselves to the esophagus of a bird and kill by strangulation.

 

[BikerBabeRules]

There is a neighbor here who owns a compost company. There was an article in BackYard Poultry last month where he talked about his chickens eating only from the compost. The company has since been shut down for various reasons, nothing to do with the chickens. Was permit issues and such that were never acquired. The chickens here all free range and love the compost pile. While their dish is always full, they've learned to forage extremely well and in the summer months, prefer foraging/compost over their grain.