Chicks love rotten wood?!!

I’m kinda new to chickens but have discovered that my month old chicks just LOVE rotten wood chunks that I scrounge for them from the backyard forest!! They love to tear it apart with beaks and feet but also eat big chunks of it.  I’m guessing that they’re getting nutrition from the natural bacteria and fungi in the wood because there are few bugs. Anybody else have this experience?

I don't have chickens but my understanding is that the wild ancestor of today's domesticated chickens is a forest bird. So it would make sense that chickens today would enjoy treats from the forest

Also, welcome to permies! I hope you will stick around and share more about your chickens and what you are doing with them.

Here is another thread you might be interested in:

https://permies.com/t/14727/critters/keeping-chickens-forest-woods

Chickens will get minerals and bacteria from rotting wood along with any insects that might be working on the wood.
This is the same as they do in compost heaps and manure piles.

Mine are doing a lot more to some rotting stumps in their run than ever would have guessed.  I'm ok with that!

I often wonder how my chickens manage to fill their crops when they're out foraging in the grass 'cause I usually can't see a darn thing!   I imagine there are countless tiny bugs they are eating as well as all the aforementioned living things not seen by the naked eye.  It's all good :)

In an effort to provide more perch space in my chicken's run, I have been dragging in tree/branch segments and spreading them out within the run.

I have noticed this spring that all of the sudden, the old wood has been obliterated and couldn't put my finger on it. I managed to catch the flock going to town pecking at the old punky wood searching for bugs and was delighted. So far, apple wood seems to break down nicely and within a reasonable amount of time after being brought in.

Yup, mine tear up old stumps. I’m about to move there whole operation across the property to a thick wooded area with lots of rotting logs and such. Putting wheels on coop that’s not designed to be moved is a challenge but they need the new area.