In this video I show you my daily “chickens that compost” hack—no fancy setup, just routine and a little bit of strategy. I prep a few rough compost piles in the chicken yard and scatter black oil sunflower seed across the top. When I let the flock out, they grab the easy seed first, but once that’s gone they start tearing into the piles to hunt for the rest. That scratching is the whole point: they aerate, mix, and break the material down like little earth movers, and it keeps them busy and healthier because they’re foraging instead of standing around. I also bring in comfrey as it’s heading into dormancy. In the orchard I leave it as living mulch to protect the soil and feed it in place, but along the chicken tunnel I cut some out and toss those greens into the yard to boost the compost. I’ll be straight with you: some center piles can go anaerobic if they don’t get worked, so I’ll hit them with a pitchfork when needed. On day two I add biochar as a long-term soil amendment—my birds mix it in naturally, it gets inoculated in the process, and it even supports their gut microbiome. Rinse, repeat, and those ugly piles turn into refined compost that migrates out to the garden.