The run is loaded with flies

[aart]

Collecting fallen leaves works good...IF....they are very dry before bagging.
...or you'll just have a bunch of moldy leaves.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Collecting fallen leaves works good...IF....they are very dry before bagging.
...or you'll just have a bunch of moldy leaves.

Probably depends on the specific climate and storage conditions, but I've found that I can cheat and get away with bagging slightly damp leaves (as we get a lot of fall rain, it can be difficult to actually get fully dry leaves). If you find yourself needing to bag them that way, avoid packing down the leaves in the bags, so they can still get some aeration, and to store them somewhere as dry as possible so they'll fully dry out by the time you go to use them. I use a greenhouse for storage since we really don't use it otherwise, and it's warmer and drier in there which helps with drying out the leaves.

 

[aart]

Probably depends on the specific climate and storage conditions, but I've found that I can cheat and get away with bagging slightly damp leaves (as we get a lot of fall rain, it can be difficult to actually get fully dry leaves). If you find yourself needing to bag them that way, avoid packing down the leaves in the bags, so they can still get some aeration, and to store them somewhere as dry as possible so they'll fully dry out by the time you go to use them. I use a greenhouse for storage since we really don't use it otherwise, and it's warmer and drier in there which helps with drying out the leaves.

..and our bags are paper or plastic?
Left open at the top?

 

[RoyalChick]

Probably depends on the specific climate and storage conditions, but I've found that I can cheat and get away with bagging slightly damp leaves (as we get a lot of fall rain, it can be difficult to actually get fully dry leaves). If you find yourself needing to bag them that way, avoid packing down the leaves in the bags, so they can still get some aeration, and to store them somewhere as dry as possible so they'll fully dry out by the time you go to use them. I use a greenhouse for storage since we really don't use it otherwise, and it's warmer and drier in there which helps with drying out the leaves.

I only bag 3-4 lawn bags at a time. They sit in the garage.
As I empty them I wait for a dry day and refill from the outdoor heap (mountain). The top layer of the mountain is usually reasonably dry and they dry off more in the garage.
I keep thinking I should have hooks in the ceiling of the covered chicken run and store more bags under cover up there. But each time I sit down to figure a design I end up doing something else and just repeat the garage bag approach!
Guess it isn’t going to happen.

 

[rosemarythyme]

..and our bags are paper or plastic?
Left open at the top?

Paper - I use both recycled all-paper feed bags as well as the 30 gal bags you can buy at big box stores.

Tops are left open and if bags are to be stacked, they should be staggered so the bags on bottom still get some airflow.