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[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

This is not a new idea, but I think I can add some to the thoughts of 
others.  Someone had said a while back that chickens would derive 
endless entertainment from scratching over a mulch pile.  I noticed one 
day that chickens were returning daily to the guinea pig litter that had 
spilled on the back porch.

Now, an outdoor mulch pile is not likely to have much in the way of 
insect life during winter, compared to summer.  But guinea pigs have to 
be kept in a warm place, so their litter pans continue to evolve flies 
all winter long (thank goodness that now they just go right out the 
south door of the sun porch).  I'm suggesting that it's possible to time 
the changing of the litter pans so that they're emptied just as larval 
development peaks, and the flies can emerge in the scratching run.

I'm picturing a sort of hallway on the shady side of the barn, sheltered 
from rain but well-ventilated and screened in.  It could have a doorway 
at each end for dumping and removing organic material.  It really needs 
a way for chickens to enter, perhaps a hole a couple of feet off the 
ground.  In this way none of the "mulch" would be lost by chickens' 
scratching it in every direction.

It seems this would be an excellent device for feeding chickens during 
the winter, and at least it keeps them busy.  It also allows the daytime 
production of chicken manure to be concentrated in one place, instead of 
here and there on the back stairs.

The other trick that can be used to get chickens to eat less desirable 
foods is to enclose them with the food in the morning, especially if 
that food is their only source of water.  I've been able to get them to 
eat things like cooked parsnip peels this way, which are entirely 
nutritious and even rich in calories, but which they'll normally turn 
their nose up at.

Bill
S. Oregon coast