mulch

[Wally]

My chicken yard is completly bare and we have had so much rain there is a thin layer of alge in places. Poor birds don't have anything to scratch around in. I thought of putting mulch on the ground to give them something to dig around in. Have any of you ever done this or something similar for your birds?
Thanks, Wally

 

[Southern28Chick]

What type of mulch are you thinking about? Wet shredded bark will mold very easily. I have never had mulch in my chicken yard but I did work in mulch/landscape supply for 3 years. Just remember NO CEDAR.

Edited to add:
I have grass in their yard but I throw wheat straw in there and they love it. They will scratch at it for hours!!!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Mulch can be anything from compost to gravel, so I'm not sure what you have in mind exactly.

My ducks love to root around in my compost pile. I would think that chickens would appreciate something similar, especially if there were bugs in it.

 

[Wally]

I was thinking cypress mulch. In the fall there are fallen leaves which they really love, but not now.

 

[CtlisencedArborist]

My crew usually chips between 20-30 cords a week.Mostly soft wood...i.e.pine,spruce,arborvities..etc etc....thats all I use outside the coop.Never had a problem.

 

[Southern28Chick]

I don't think there would be anything wrong with cypress wood chips. Shredded cypress bark will mold easy though so you don't want the bark mulch.

Try wheat straw first....it's so much cheaper.

 

[opihiman911]

A couple time a year the County grids up the green waste recycle pile. It a mix of any and every kind of tree, shrub, grass, leaves, coconuts fronds, even whole coconuts which the girls go crazy over, all thrown into an industrial shredder and give to the community for free mulch.
I go down and get 4-5 garbage cans of the mulch and dump it into my run. I don't even have to spread it out, my girls do that job. I used to take to wire roof off the run and dump it over the fence, but this last time I decided to replace the wire roof with a larger holed 2x4 wire mesh so I can dump the mulch right onto the wire roof and it will just fall through.
Its a blast to see my girls jump/fly up to the roof to get a hanging strand of bark or leaf stuck over the wire. It great to look in the run at a foot deep crater with one of my girls heads barely looking over the edge, scratching and throwing mulch all over the place.

What is amazing is I put 6-8 inches of mulch on the floor a couple times year and in a month or two it is all gone and getting down to the dirt floor. Where i goes I don't know, but I know they sure look forward to piles of mulch to dig and play in.

Aloha,
Cory

 

[devora]

We use straw. If I think they are bored I toss a pile out to 'em. Like Cory said, they do all the work! (Altho I like to think of it as 'play.'

)

 

[Standard Hen]

Hi Wally,,,,throw in some mulch and don't worry about it. It will not have time to mold up as they will be so excited they will be kicking that stuff all over the place. You did not say how many chickens you have but start off whith like a wheelbarrow full and then let the party begin.

 

[Southern28Chick]

All I was saying is that shredded bark molds very easily. That's all. Is called Yellow slim mold and it is not harmful just gross.