I can't keep my flock healthy.

[Stephine]

Without seeing a photo of what you're calling mold I can't 100% be sure of my answer, but what I suspect you're seeing is the fungal life in the chips as they begin decomposing in the pile, and that is a very good thing. It will be reduced when spread thin and mushed around by the chickens, but that is a great sign you have the microbiology in there to make the system work. Are you seeing lots of white/cream colored fungal growth? That is the good stuff. Woodchip based compost/mulch should be fungally dominant, not bacterically dominated. Adding the chicken poop will push it towards being bacterically dominated so starting with lots of fungal activity is excellent.

Oh wow, that is interesting! Yes, whitish stringy stuff is what I found. So that is fine? Would be great if I could use it after all - the pile is still sitting there…

 

[Stephine]

Let it sit for another week.
Then scrape off the outer layer of the pile and spread it thin in the run.
Keep this up once a week or so.

Great! Sounds like a plan!

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Oh wow, that is interesting! Yes, whitish stringy stuff is what I found. So that is fine? Would be great if I could use it after all - the pile is still sitting there…

Yup absolutely fine, I would be comfortable just spreading that as is, but you can also follow above advice about spreading it over time if that makes you feel more comfortable. If you leave it in the pile for long enough you'll end up with compost .