[Ben_H]

I'm looking to make a woodchip pit in one corner of the run to give the girls a bit of a change to the dry soil/parched grass of the rest of the run.

I have some woodchip from a friend at the local country park. It's mainly willow with the odd bit of something else mised in. Can anyone think of a reason for me not to use this? Do I need special woodchip for the chooks?

[AL Hathaway]

wood chips are fine

just not wood bark or bark chips not good to use

[Ben_H]

Why not the bark?

This is the "whole tree". I managed to blag the chippings from some of the annual clearance.

[Elcie]

I think the bark is more likely to encourage mould spores Ben but I might be wrong.

I use wood chip along the whole of my run floor and they love scratching around in it.  One thing I will say is to consider making the sides of your pen a bit higher than the wood chip level as they will scratch it around all over the place and before you know it your lovely wood chip corner will be all over the place!

[AL Hathaway]

I think the bark is more likely to encourage mould spores Ben but I might be wrong.

I use wood chip along the whole of my run floor and they love scratching around in it.  One thing I will say is to consider making the sides of your pen a bit higher than the wood chip level as they will scratch it around all over the place and before you know it your lovely wood chip corner will be all over the place!

yes it has to do with mould can cause  breathing problems but what you have should be fine

and i agree they will make a huge mess with it as they love to dig and kick it all over.

[Ben_H]

Thanks for the thoughts.

I'm going to build a small raised bed to put the woodchip in for the time being. Hopefully this will stop it spreading too far around the run and will also cover up one of the grassless patches.

In the next couple of months I will be finishing  our garden fruit cage which will then double as a chicken run extension. This will have wood chip as a mulch around the fruit bushes so they can scratch around in that.

And yes, I know they will eat some of the fruit, they will also hopefully eat the pests.

[salt and pepper]

All the garden centers/ diy places sell wood bark chipping, so where do you get them from ? as i thought it was ok for bark ( no experience and learning everyday from this site ) i've just put a bag down for my girls!!! as site was getting muddy with all the rain we had.

[Helenaj]

Wood bark chippings sold commercially are often treated with anti-fungicide to prevent  mould spores and it's not always safe to use where you have animals or humans. The type of wood bark suitable for child and chicken areas have a natural fungicide which is not harmful if accidentally ingested. These are usually marked "Play Bark" etc. What you have there is perfectly okay as it's not been treated and since it will be outdoors, will not form mould so easily as the weather will scour it naturally. It only becomes a danger if it becomes damp in enclosed pens.

[Ben_H]

My chippings were a freebie.

A friend of mine is head ranger at the local country park. They were doing a lot of clearance and chipped the arisings so I went down with some plastic sacks and a shovel.

[Flossiej]

I have been using a product called 'comfy bed' which is fine wood chip bedding for horses. My girls love it, it makes the run smell lovely and it's easy to poo pick every day as well. The bare earth was fine whilst it was dry but very muddy when it rained. The bedding keeps their feet dry and stops me sliding sideways in the mornings in the mud.

[Ben_H]

Hi Flossie,

How big is your run, how much is the bedding and how are you finding it now after the recent rains?

[Ben_H]

OK, had woodchip in the run since Sunday and the biggest problem now that I have raised up the water and food out of the way of flying woodchip is how on earth I'm supposed to find the poo when clearing it up. The chooks turn over the woodchip so quickly that I cannot see it. I know it will all rot down eventually however I am concerned about the smell building up and thinking of hygiene, both for the girls and us humans.

Any suggestions? Could I for exqample put down a thick enough layer of woodchip that it just gets lost in the volume?

[Flossiej]

Hi Ben sorry for the delay in answering you but been away. My run is 10 x 12 feet square and we have five girls. The comfy bed costs me just over a fiver for a bale and lasts me for at least a couple of months. I must admit that I do not lay it down too thickly as the girls spread it around a lot and seem to like gathering it all into one corner to play in. It helps keep their feet dry in the heavy rain but I have also just thrown a light tarpaulin over the whole run roof to help as well ( another fiver from the local shop).

As for poo picking, I try and gather what I can up every other day and once a month I shovel most of the chippings up and my hubby mulches e garden with it. The plants seem to like it as well and with it's residue droppings and the rain it works really well for us. I haven't noticed too much smell and the natural smell of the chippings helps as well. No problem with flies either. I agree with the others that you need to add higher sides to the run to stop them flicking the chips all out of the run. We forgot to do this so have to just gather it up off the lawn occasionally but we are not too bothered. The main thing is that the chips keep the girls amused for hours scratching around and I no longer surf the mud in the mornings in my dressing gown. If you have a local farm that stocks horse bedding etc then pop in and see if they have something the same or similar on sale, it's a cheap product that you can use in the garden afterwards so Eco friendly as well! Let me know how you get on.

[Helenaj]

OK, had woodchip in the run since Sunday and the biggest problem now that I have raised up the water and food out of the way of flying woodchip is how on earth I'm supposed to find the poo when clearing it up. The chooks turn over the woodchip so quickly that I cannot see it. I know it will all rot down eventually however I am concerned about the smell building up and thinking of hygiene, both for the girls and us humans.

Any suggestions? Could I for exqample put down a thick enough layer of woodchip that it just gets lost in the volume?

Can you hose it down?

[Ben_H]

Hosing it down is certainly possible. I realise this will help break up the poo and disperse it, was a bit concerned about build of germs etc. How often should I change the woodchip? I've seen various posts on here where people talk about dusting with some sort of steriliser but not too keen on that.