I recently had some large trees pruned. The tree guys left me with a giant pile of mesquite wood chips and I was gleefully planning to use the chips in the coops. Three days later I went to get a wheelbarrow full for one of the coops. Stuck the shovel into the pile and... smoke? Tried it again in another spot and got the same result. It sure looked like smoke coming up but it wasn't. Turns out the whole pile of chips had molded and every time I stuck a shovel into the pile it kicked up a cloud of mold spores. Yuck!
It doesn't seem like a good idea to use moldy wood chips in the coops. Now I have a giant pile of moldy wood chips and I'm not sure what to do with them other than let them compost in place and use them around the yard afterward. That could take a long time. Any ideas, insight, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!