My chickens' run is part compost, part cafeteria

[IamRainey]

Is that the way it's supposed to be?

I'm very new at this. So I have little idea what I'm doing. At the moment I've filled their dirt floor run with a bit of sand and a LOT of dry leaves. Hey! they're free!

They have a hanging feeder with crumble and a hanging nipple waterer. Then, in addition, each morning I bring them a section of fodder and some chopped up veggies (cabbage, carrots, broccoli, whatever). I just strew that on the ground. And they are as happy to walk on it as they are to eat it. There are day-old (mold-free) split summer squash in there with them and some underdeveloped bell peppers I pulled off the plants.

Should I make an effort to put these fresh foods in a bowl or something? Cause anything that's in a bowl gets covered in scratched up leaves anyway. Short of watching for and eliminating moldy stuff is this the way chickens should live? I am not hearing complaints but I sure as h#ll what to avoid anything that increases the potential for illness.

 

[SueT]

It's okay on the ground....I do that, but I make sure I only give mine what they will definitely eat, so as not to have leftovers to attract varmints.

 

[N F C]

It sounds to me like you're doing fine. x2 on @SueT 's comment re: only putting down what they will eat so you don't draw pests.

 

[rosemarythyme]

x3. I do pick up larger scraps at the end of the day, and any bits of anything that might be attractive to rodents. Things like leafy greens can safely get stomped into the ground by the chickens, but anything with grains (because rodents like it) or fruit (which tends to mold on me), I remove.

Otherwise no issue with what you're doing. It's making the run an interesting environment for the chickens, and probably going to yield some nice compost for next spring as well.

 

[lazy gardener]

I do not pick up what does not get eaten. It simply gets worked into the deep composting litter. I've noticed that the birds crops are bulging by the end of the day, even when they don't get out to free range. I give them their FF in the morning, and by mid afternoon, they've finished it. Yesterday, I took a garden fork and turned over some of their DL. What I found was lots and lots of worms of every color and size. And lots of tiny green sprouts. Any weed seeds they don't eat get churned into the DL, where they sprout. The birds have plenty of animal protein and green matter at their disposal every day.