[Rosemary]

A friend has asked me if it's OK to put bark down on the floor of her chicken runs as they are very muddy.

We've used it round the houses but our pens are big, so it's only a small section.

There is a little warning bell in my head saying that there can be problems with using bark - but nothing more specific than that.

Can anyone clarify if bark IS OK for poultry pens? Thanks

[Greenerlife]

I hope it's ok because I have been using it for the same reason for years!  I use chippings from my tree fellers, which definitely contains bark, but I guess it must depend on what trees?  I do find that straw is better (but not necessarily free like my chippings) for stopping it getting quite so claggy.

[Rosemary]

I suggested straw but she's in a built up area and straw and wind aren't a tidy mix.

Hopefully, my fears will be allayed further.

[chrismahon]

Wet chipped bark rots quite quickly and will need replacing every 6 months because it will turn into a slimy mess. If the runs are covered it lasts far longer. If you poo pick daily it will keep it fresher, but that's not that easy on bark. We used it without a membrane down first, which does result in worms churning it up, as will the chickens. We got it free, which helped with our choice!

[Clansman]

I've used it Rosemary, ok if the ground is dry/covered but if its damp at all it will just get sodden and needs regularly replaced as Chris said.

One of its main uses is to actually hold water and keep the ground wet for gardening.

Some of the garden centre prepacked stuff has insecticides in it, doesn't seem to affect the birds but they won't have much in the way of bugs to find in amongst it.

[MarthaR]

Hi Rosemary 

I have a large chicken run on a slope which they are in some of the time when I'm not on site. I wanted to prevent the mudbath I experienced last year so bought some hardwood chips in the Autumn. I got it online website (bark-uk) which I thought was reasonable value for 20 x 70l bags rate. They also do cheaper in bulk. It is specifically hardwood like is used in kids playparks and badged as for chicken runs. It doesn't rot easily which is the problem with bark as gives off spores as it does so which can harm chickens. I have used it in part of the run to see what difference it makes - answer, quite a bit. Yes it sinks into the ground a bit but it is miles better than just the mud and no sign of it breaking down. The company are good and deliver quickly. The bags are easy to lift and shift.
HTH
Martha R

[Stereo]

Martha, are the pieces small enough for the chickens to root about in so that any muck gets worked in over time?

[Clansman]

Yes it sinks into the ground a bit but it is miles better than just the mud and no sign of it breaking down.

Agree with that  mines sinks in eventually and I just top it up.

Still very damp underneath, i'm not sure it will ever properly dry out

[Womble]

It doesn't rot easily which is the problem with bark as gives off spores as it does so which can harm chickens. I have used it in part of the run to see what difference it makes - answer, quite a bit. Yes it sinks into the ground a bit but it is miles better than just the mud and no sign of it breaking down.

Yes, we used bark for a couple of years in our old hen run and it worked well. We just emptied a new sack over the muddy bits once in a while, and then barrowed the whole lot out and replaced it periodically. Our run was only 4m x 5m though, so we're not talking a huge area.
 
I also remember reading that the spores were dangerous to hens, but since we'd already been using bark for 18 months without any problems before I found that out, I figured what the hell!
 
Another alternative I've seen advertised is rubber chippings. I've never actually spoken to anyone who's used them though, so I don't know how well they work. Reports from other forums are mixed too:
 

I used to be a big fan of rubber chippings, installed on top of a permeable membrane and hosed down regularly so the poo dissolved, and then a can of disinfectant on top to keep everything sweet. This used a lot of water, and the earth underneath got saturated and thus drained less well. Nevertheless, they are soft and warm and the hens did like sitting around on them. I thought they would be a permanent solution to the problem of dealing with dirty litter. I was wrong.
After a year, I realised that, although most of the poo does dissolve, there is still a residue composed of little bits of grass stem and other non- soluble components of their diet, and this was accumulating under the chippings and caking up, making the drainage poor and the hosing inefficient. The membrane was effective at keeping the poo separate from the earth underneath, but I had to laboriously rake the chippings to one side of the run, scrape up the caked mess, rake the chippings back, rake the other half over, scrape up after theat part, rake it back.... Very hard work and the chippings were pretty dirty underneath the to layer by then as well. So for a while, I poo picked in the normal way, and when I had a bucket of dirty chippings I spread them out on a garden sieve and hosed them down, using the water as liquid fertiliser on the garden. Good for the garden, but hard and unpleasant work. Also we were by them on a water meter, it used a lot of water hosing them down.  I gave up, bagged them up and took them to the dump. I retained the permeable membrane, which is an excellent idea whatever bedding you use as it prevents the hens digging mud up into it, and went over to Aubiose, which is soft, incredibly absorbent, and a doddle  to poo pick as it just coats and dehydrates the poos so they are easy to pick up. The hens like digging in it and it doesn't go mouldy if it gets wet.
So, as for the rubber chippings, you can probably infer what my advice would be........

 
The other concern with them is that they're not biodegradable, so I think getting rid of them eventually could be tricky.
 
Has anybody else on here used them with more success perhaps?

[lord flynn]

most sawmills will sell you bags of hardwood chip (though it isnt cheap) or softwood chip which will rot down more quickly. B&Q used to do bags of hardwood chip but haven't seen it for a while-they certainyl do softwood at the right time of year. aspergillosis is a problem with rotting bark (or so they say). unless you can cover a pen or put in serious drainage any surface is only ever going to be temporary.

[MarthaR]

Stereo - yes it is. And they do root around in it. I chose to spread the layer quite thinly and have then just top up the patches which get heavy chicken stomping (around coop, feeders etc). It has made lots of difference to keeping the feeders clean. Yes the ground does still get wet, but the difference I have found so far is that the water doesn't accumulate and the ground doesn't get all carved up and muddy.
I paid (I think) about £120 for 20 bags of 70litres and I have only used half so far.
Martha R

[Mammyshaz]

Bark can grow spores which cause respiratory disease in poultry.
 Wood chips is fine and hardwood chips will last longer but in my experience still gets dug in over the seasons. Still I think the wood chips allow better drainage for much longer even once dug in a bit   

[chrismahon]

The rubber chippings mentioned are shredded car tyres I was told. Although the chips are screened, the suppliers still cannot guarantee there are no pieces of steel wire reinforcement left in the chips and so they could be potentially injurious to chickens. As to removing poo from them, the whole lot would have to be dug out and jet washed through a sieve.


We had 40 chickens on bark chippings for two years without any respiratory issues. Agreed the hardwood chips sound a lot better though.

[Rosemary]

We put the feeder and the drinker on a pallet in winter to stop the hens standing in mud. There's a kind of pallet walkway from the house door to the feeder. It helps a bit, I think, but it's been so dry here thsi year, it's hard to tell.