Author Topic: Wood chips (Read 11034 times)

sellickbhoy · « **on:** April 14, 2009, 11:22:59 am »

I'm planning on getting chickens soon.

I've built an secure run (5m by 5M - and 1.8M high) and was planning on putting the coop in there.

I generally work from home, so i'm planning on free ranging the birds on my large grass garden when i'm home but when i'm not home i'd want them in the secure run.

the secure run is floored by bark chips - though there are some trees growing up through this - and i also plan to add some large wooden planters to add some lettuce and other live/growing green veg for them to eat.

is the bark chip flooring ok for them to spend time on? they can scratch through it to the dirt below if they want - easily raked back. but just wondering if this was an ok substrate for them to be on.

worst case, i'd expect them to be in there 50% of the time, best case, they'll be on that for a few hours a day.

Pomona · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2009, 12:08:29 pm »

I've got woodchips on my run and they're great, the hens just sweep them aside anyway to get to the goodies underneath

Great for me because the run is static, so every couple of days I just sprinkle that agricultural dry disinfectant (whose name completely escapes me at the moment

) to keep everything smelling fresh

Might be an idea to check out the lettice idea though - I'm sure I read somewhere it's not great for the hens' digestion... $:-\$

sellickbhoy · « **Reply #2 on:** April 14, 2009, 12:20:54 pm »

i'm not a fan of lettuce myself, so i'll grow whatever they like to eat!! I'll look into that a bit more - comfry is certainly on the list.

I guess i should give them some sage and onions - or is that just for stuffing??

gavo · « **Reply #3 on:** April 14, 2009, 01:27:20 pm »

Hello,

We use Stalosan F for disinfecting our poultry houses.

Cheers

Gavin

doganjo · « **Reply #4 on:** April 14, 2009, 01:32:13 pm »

Are wood chips Ok for ducks too - I thought they were lethal to them? wood they work on top of type 1/hardcore and mud?

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #5 on:** April 14, 2009, 09:50:30 pm »

I think they are lethal to ducklings, not sure about chicks, as they eat them and it cloggs up their digestion.

doganjo · « **Reply #6 on:** April 15, 2009, 12:02:14 am »

So would my adult ducks be OK with wood chips?

Rosemary · « **Reply #7 on:** April 15, 2009, 09:05:11 am »

Comfrey, nettles, cabbage and cauliflower leaves, brussel sprouts, sunflowers, corn on the cob - all good to hang up for chooks.

pikilily · « **Reply #8 on:** April 15, 2009, 09:19:35 am »

For the bedding , dont forget the hemp-core. It is terrific. easily cleaned out, rots very fast, AND most importantly, i have found reduces the pong and fumyness of the hoose
HTH Emma

sellickbhoy · « **Reply #9 on:** April 15, 2009, 10:56:11 am »

Quote from: Rosemary on April 15, 2009, 09:05:11 am

Comfrey, nettles, cabbage and cauliflower leaves, brussel sprouts, sunflowers, corn on the cob - all good to hang up for chooks.

that's good news then as i've got plenty nettles next door and i'm growing my own sunflowers and corn already. Will sort out some comfrey, cabbage and sprouts too.

i've seen a few folk saying you should hang the food up from a string so the birds peck at them, why is this better than just chucking it in? or even growing it in a planter that is inside the run?

obviously there is the fact the food doesn't spoil on the wet/muddy ground, but do the chickens get a kick out of it being up high?

loopy · « **Reply #10 on:** April 15, 2009, 11:09:41 am »

personally i hang up whole cabbages, and them jumping up to reach the leaves gives them a bit of extra exercise....plus they love cabbages so much that they will strip a whole one within half an hour if it's just given to them on the floor (9 chickens)....which at 50p a cabbage for just half an hour is a expensive treat!! however this week the clever buggers have learned how to pull the cabbage down and off the scewer and string i've rigged up...so i need to figure out a new way to suspend it - how do other people do it??

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #11 on:** April 15, 2009, 03:07:36 pm »

re wood chips, I have no idea, Annie, if adult ducks are daft enough to eat the! I'll stick to board/paper and hay, works best for me.

doganjo · « **Reply #12 on:** April 15, 2009, 09:09:48 pm »

The bark ships are for the run not inside. I'll try it in the chicken and see how it goes first. The ducks are happily munching on a clean bed of chopped straw tonight

hexhammeasure · « **Reply #13 on:** April 15, 2009, 09:56:01 pm »

several things in this topic - 1 wood chip for hens is fine but it does get a bit compacted and can be difficult to clean out especially sheds, loose bark mulch is good for an outside run, for the house we use leaves from our massive leaf mould pile (3 acre beech wood next door) these are excellent for keeping eggs clean too, although we do use a lot 3 barrowfuls a week (brilliant for the compost heap). Our ducks and hens prefer wood shavings to scratch around in. ducks COULD develop a compacted crop with woodchip.

2 lettuce - small amounts of lettuce is fine for hens but too much is lethal, more that a handful a day

3) hanging food does give the chucks a bit more exercise but it also keeps the food clean