Did I waste my money?

[Brigid of the Rockies]

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[Parront]

Welcome to BYC! The hair pulling is one of the emojis for a reason!

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

Just the voice of experience here! lol, my old neighborhood in So. Cal, the lawn fertilizer "Weed & Feed" was added with the water every day! Just tree trimmings from that area! Most homeowners do not spray their trees the way they do the lawn. But, your local guy would know his customers, just tell him what you want -- no bug spray, no fertilized lawn clippings. Short grass lawn clippings you have to spread thin and dry, do not put them on in the rainy season or you will get slime. Leaves are always good. Chipped branches with leaves, the best!

Awesome, thanks!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hmmmm. What happens when it gets wet? What I was going for was something that stayed dry under the covered side so when the kids and chickens are out feet stay some what decent if that makes sense.

So peat moss retains moisture, which is why it's used in gardening. Not really good for run flooring but it's a great ingredient for chicken dust baths, as long as you can keep it fairly dry.

It depends on your neighborhood, some peoples yards are so full of spray and fertilizer, I would not want that even in my chicken run! But here, we are a lot of forest and natural yards, no one sprays or fertilizes the lawn, they mostly don't have lawns. The local paper is where he advertises.

This is why I use clippings and trimmings from my own yard. I know what's in it, and what's NOT in it. Also means I know what types of wood are in my chip pile.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

So peat moss retains moisture, which is why it's used in gardening. Not really good for run flooring but it's a great ingredient for chicken dust baths, as long as you can keep it fairly dry.



This is why I use clippings and trimmings from my own yard. I know what's in it, and what's NOT in it. Also means I know what types of wood are in my chip pile.

They have a huge sand box for dusting, so no sense in getting it for that.
Yup I would probably be worried what's mulched up together.

 

[Sea Wolf]

The tree guys sound like the best option.

They will be happy to let you take all you want but be aware that it can and will also contain toxic weeds like poison ivy. A cut piece of poison ivy vine will sprout. Mulch from tree and yard work is also fresh organic material and it will decay. There will be an odor from it.

 

[Parront]

They will be happy to let you take all you want but be aware that it can and will also contain toxic weeds like poison ivy. A cut piece of poison ivy vine will sprout. Mulch from tree and yard work is also fresh organic material and it will decay. There will be an odor from it.

Yep, there are trade-offs to everything! I got a load of weed seed from one batch of mulch from Lowes once & had a devil of a time getting all the weeds out!

 

[Sea Wolf]

My neighbor did the same thing. Bagged mulch. Never seen so many weeds sprout from it. I use the bagged pine shavings for horses. It's kiln dried, parasite and weed free and super cheap. At least around here. That huge brown paper bag expands to about double when fluffed up. Costs me about $6.00 a bag.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

They will be happy to let you take all you want but be aware that it can and will also contain toxic weeds like poison ivy. A cut piece of poison ivy vine will sprout. Mulch from tree and yard work is also fresh organic material and it will decay. There will be an odor from it.

Yup again things I don't need in my run. Think I will wait for a dry spell and try getting my hands on pine mulch. Thank you.

 

[Kiki]

Are you familiar with what deep litter method is?