Gardening books often talk about the need to turn the contents of a compost bin over two or three times during  the composting process to aid the breakdown of the organic matter.  However most gardeners rarely turn their compost in their bins, which often results in compost of an  uneven quality.  But if chickens are allowed access to your compost bins they will turn the compost over hundreds of times during the composting process as they scratch for worms and other food. By doing this they make a wonderfully fine compost as even course woody material is literally torn apart by their actions.

Not only do the chickens help break down organic matter they  remove many of the weed seeds in the material.  And as they scratch they also add their chicken manure,  which is an excellent fertilizer.

Ideally the compost bins should be placed in the chicken run which in turn should be set up right next to the main vegetable patch.  That way you get both the benefits of the chickens scratching and a short as possible distance to cart your green waste.