Drying tree leaves?

[winic1]

Recent freak snowstorm took down 7/8ths of my black cherry tree. I have piled the branches in a separate pile from all the other downed branches & stuff, so that I have it reserved for our degus. These branches are still covered in their leaves, late fall this year means they hadn't quite dropped yet, which is why the freak early snow broke the tree.

These leaves are slowly yellowing/drying right on the branches. Is that okay, or should I pick them and actively dry them in the house?

Chester and Chitter love these leaves, unlike most everything else I am offering them. Have been cutting off little leaf-containing twigs for them daily. But seeing the leaves change color as they dry outside on their branches, I wonder if I should do something differently.

The branch pile is big and loose and lightly piled, so there is lots of air circulation.

[fred]

Leaves in autumn undergo quite dramatic metabolic changes (which I know I don't have to tell you as a botanist, but I want to make this point for all readers). With cherry trees, these will not make the leaves unsuitable, but I would not automatically assume the same for all trees. When in doubt, I would only feed small amounts.

What I don't know is whether it may affect your goos' taste for these leaves. If you have large pile, you could perhaps pick some and dry them indoors.