Ground Shrubs and Hardwoods For Run?

[NeilV]

I am building a new coop. My run will be a 12 x 20 foot, already built, former dog kennel (at least I think that's what it used to be). The floor is concrete, and I will need to cover it will something.

Our city has a green dump where people can take their cut down trees and branches for free. They only accept vegetation. Most of what goes in there is hardwood limbs and trunks and shrubs. There would be some cedars and other evergreens, but that would be a small portion. The city then runs everything through massive grinders, which turn the branches into uncomposted and totally free mulch. The grind varies. Most of it is chewed up really well, but there are some large pieces of wood (say one inch by six inches) mixed in. Basically, this stuff is similar to what would come out of a wood chipper, with a little more variation in the sizes of pieces.

I think I will spring for either straw or pine shavings to go in my coop.

However, would this stuff work as a floor covering for my run? (Again, this stuff is totally free and there is an unlimited supply that they will load into a bed of a truck.)

Thanks,

Neil

 

[Doopy]

Hi Neil and welcome to the forums. I don't think it would be something I could pass up. You could try it and if it doesn't work out try something else. I would be a little concerned about the concrete slab draining properly. If the new mulch holds water you may have problems. Also your new friends are going to want to dig in some dirt once in a while. They love to scratch, back up one step, and look at what new treasures might be un-earthed. Is there any soil and grass available to them? What about a dry dusting area for them?

 

[NeilV]

There is a pretty good slope to the run area, so I thought it should shed water pretty well. Also, the soil in my yard is gumbo clay, so I don't know that moving the run to the yard would be any better. I will let them out if we will be around to watch. However, I live next to woods that hold about every critter that likes to eat chickens (raccons, possums, skunks, coyotes, foxes, hawks and owls), so free ranging all the time might not be a good idea.

I may need to make a dry dusting area. How do you do that?

Neil

 

[patandchickens]

If this stuff is very fine and composted, it will likely be too water-retentive to avoid stink and slop, and also too fine to stay on the slab very well when there is rain.

If it is coarser and not yet much composted, you can try it. Make REAL SURE what you're getting has sat and dried for a good while, as very fresh chippings can mold something *fierce*. Then you'll just have to see whether you like the way it works in your run.

Another option would be to put retaining boards around the bottom edge of the run fence and add 6" or more of sand or a sand-gravel mix (nothing with *sharp* gravel).

A couple of my runs are on concrete, but they are roofed (by a LARGE roof) so they do not get wet except where the roof leaks (although that is actually kind of a lot of places as it is an old old roof

); I use poor-quality hay and cut weeds and fallen leaves and garden weedings. Using lots and lots of organic material like this might not work so well in a place where it's getting rained on a lot... I suppose it depends on your local weather and climate.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[kichohana]

first -

I did that once - my county dump offered a "truckload" of mulch for $50. Hardwood trees, shrubs, etc. ground up into shredded bark mulch. I intended to use it under my kid's playground... until after it was delivered. The pile was HUGE and boy did it stink! It was partially composted and as described - hardwood trees, shrubs, etc. ground up into shredded bark mulch - but no one mentioned all the trash mixed in. It was full of pieces of wire, bottle caps, black plastic trash bags and orange plastic bailing twine. It was such a mess and totally unusable! I spent months loading it one wheelbarrow at a time and dumping it in the woods in the back of my property.

Lesson learned - free does not always = good!

 

[NeilV]

There is very little trash in what they have. They inspect your load when you dump and don't allow people to dump unless it's all plant stuff.

Do you have a feel for whether that stuff would work, except for the trash issue you had? I actually do use this stuff for mulch, just not near the house due to termite issues.

 

[kichohana]

Personally, besides the trash in it, I could not get past the smell. I have seen successful chicken runs with bark mulch as flooring. Sunset Magazine has a chicken coop in their test garden in Menlo Park, CA. They use mulch; to me it looks like pine bark nuggets, but it seems to work for them, and i'm sure they've done their homework. I plan on using sand in my run.