Leaves in chicken run turning black, good or bad?

[Compost King]

Throw some scratch grains into the leaves and they chickens will have the leaves broken down in no time.

 

[gtaus]

Throw some scratch grains into the leaves and they chickens will have the leaves broken down in no time.

Yes, I throw scratch grain into the leaves in the chicken run every morning. No doubt that helps.

 

[Nor-Cal Chickens]

You're piling up that black gold!

 

[Compost King]

You're piling up that black gold!

its the reason why I got chickens in the first place, they make composting so much easier and they drop nitrogen pellets into what ever the break down. The cost of keeping them is balanced off with meat/eggs. The Compost ends up being the money maker in the end.

 

[chickens really]

I personally rake out all leaves and anything that can rot to cause mold and coccidiosis to thrive.

 

[gtaus]

I personally rake out all leaves and anything that can rot to cause mold and coccidiosis to thrive.

Well, my concern with the leaves turning black was indeed that it might be rotting and getting moldy. Although the leaves have turned black, there is no smell of rot and no evidence of any mold. I would say that it looks like compost breaking down, and much, much faster than I had expected. I have re-piled the leaves into a large stack and the chickens will scratch through it and level it out again in no time. Anyway, after all the positive responses, I think I have some good compost developing.

 

[chickens really]

Well, my concern with the leaves turning black was indeed that it might be rotting and getting moldy. Although the leaves have turned black, there is no smell of rot and no evidence of any mold. I would say that it looks like compost breaking down, and much, much faster than I had expected. I have replied the leaves into a large stack and the chickens will scratch through it and level it out again in no time. Anyway, after all the positive responses, I think I have some good compost developing.

Well then.....Carry on..

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Good compost smells like dirt in the spring. Although it might be hard to identify that dirt smell with all the poop around...

 

[Hughes Wildlife Farm]

We put out a sign for our neighbors to drop off their bags of leaves, because most of the time they get turned away at the dump yard once they fill up. So our neighbors drop their bags at our place.. We give the girls a few bags every few days during the winter (snow covered grounds out here) than we use other bags as treats durning hot summer days as the bags have been rained and snowed on.. So they love the mucky cold leaves. We give them bags as extra bedding.. Or just beacuse we get alot of bagged leaves and they just love scratching thru them.. A FREE TREAT and TOY and BEDDING

 

[perkolator]

Looks fine to me. Chickens agitating it is just like turning a compost pile frequently - distributes active microbes which makes it decompose faster than without turning. Give it a few weeks and likely the chickens will be foraging through it to find the worms this will likely promote