Pine tree mulch OK for chickens?

[DerekFSU]

I have cut down lots of pine trees on my property that died from the hurricane or beatles. I then roughly mulched them and would like to use them in the coop. This is not fine mulch you would get in a bag from Lowe’s but larger and rougher. Would this be OK?

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I would think they should be dried out a bit before used in the coop, but I've never tried this myself. Perhaps someone else can chip in with their experience.

 

[3KillerBs]

As long as the wood chips are aged and not fresh they'll be excellent.

The problem with fresh wood chips, especially from the tree service with the leaves/needles ground in along with the green wood, is that it is subject to mold/fungal blooms. After it's aged for a while, dried, and/or started to compost it's almost ideal material for a chicken run with a Deep Litter system and there's no reason not to use it in the coop as well as the run.

 

[DerekFSU]

I would think they should be dried out a bit before used in the coop, but I've never tried this myself. Perhaps someone else can chip in with their experience.

I see what you did there, thank you very mulch

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I see what you did there, thank you very mulch

I actually didn't mean to do that. I can't take credit for being that clever haha.

 

[RojoMarz]

We have lots of live pine trees...and trees that were cut down during out house build. Hubby ran the smaller branches thru the chipped/shreader. Now I have a pile of ready to use pine. I put it in the coop and had no issues. I also save empty feed bags and fill them with the mulch. I then store them in the workshop. This will give me clean/dry mulch to add to the coop during the winter months (when the big pile is covered in snow).

 

[aart]

I then roughly mulched them

How did you do this?

Problem with freshly chipped live pine/spruce is the sap.
You don't want sap tracked all over your chickens and coop.