WHERE do you put your kitchen scraps for the chickens to eat?

[farmgirlroots]

I'm thinking as I write this it must be a dumb question, but I'm asking anyway. My chickens don't have access to our compost pile. The kitchen scraps they get I have to put into their run, as they are not free ranged due to our very urban location. Today I tossed them some greens and my first thought was "Oh no! The veggies are getting all dirty!" Ridiculous, I know, since chickens like to scratch out their food, but it went through my head all the same. So tell me, do you put your kitchen scraps right on the dirt in a pile? Does anyone put them in a deep pan? Or would that be pointless as they'd just kick it out? I'm just thinking ease of clean up...our coop/run is not set up where I can have food out there for days to begin rotting...if they don't eat it I'll need to clean it up fairly soon after to keep the small area tidy. Our coop butts up against our sidewalk smack dab in the middle of the city, so I can't have an odor of rotting food wafting around there.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I also live in a very urban area and my chickens are mostly confined to a run. I used to put scraps in a swallow dish - it was actually the bottom dish-like piece of a planter. But, they always scratched and dumped it all out anyway so now I just toss it onto the ground. They do not care about the dirt and eat rocks and dirt anyway. I also like this because I can spread it all out and they all get a more fair shot at it.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Depends on my mood ..
Sometimes I food process it & mix it in with their food ..Sometimes I throw it on the ground ..Sometimes I put it in their suet holder for them to peck at when they are in the run..