Transitioning from roofed to roofless run

[JCaseyHammond]

The clear panels I took off the roof will not go to waste. I'm lining the run walls with them to at least protect it from the sides. Two of the run sides have faux ivy on them - the kind that has a fabric backing - so those are protected enough. And I'll cover the other two sides with the clear panels. Then they have the umbrellas over part of the run (third umbrella will go up at some point too), and hopefully that will be enough to give them some dry areas to hang out in. It looks like rain/snow all weekend, so we'll see how everything holds up...

Not done with it yet but here's what it looks like so far:

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My greenhouse is the exact same construction: cattle panels with lower skirt of metal mesh, backed by polycarbonate twinwall. The chickens just happen to be in there

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is that to prevent mold? Or is there another reason? I won't be able to age/dry them beforehand, unfortunately, but they came from a tree that had been dead for years, if that makes a difference - so the wood is probably drier than the wood of a fresh, living tree. The wood chips feel pretty dry and light. The green leaves in the mix are from the ivy that had suffocated and killed the tree. I read that English ivy is toxic to chickens, but also that it tastes bad to them so they are unlikely to eat it. Mine are especially picky about their greens, so hopefully they'll be fine. I watched them for a while and they didn't seem to be eating the ivy, just scratching around looking for something better

I'll rake and turn the chips over periodically - the ones that are in the run - and the rest I'll leave in a pile in the back yard, that's all I can do. I guess the top layer will get weathered first, and that's where I'll grab from when topping off the run, exposing chips from underneath that will then be exposed to the weather, and so on. Should I cover the pile with a tarp before it rains or snows? I don't want to end up with a giant moldy pile either... I guess I got so excited by the prospect of free chips dropped off right in my driveway, that I didn't think through the potential issues

The ivy is toxic but they shouldn't want to eat it - mine will climb all over it but don't even try tasting it.

You ideally want to age chips due to certain molds such as aspergillus which is toxic to chickens and favors "green" wood - since you mentioned the chips are dry and and the tree was already dead, you're likely at less risk, but if possible you should put aside chips to age and otherwise sparingly use newer chips off the top of a pile so they're as dried out as possible.

Where I'm at, we never tarp or cover chips and everyone just leaves them out in the open. Yes they get wet and they'll eventually grow mold that starts to break them down but I've had no issue using such chips in my set up.

 

[3KillerBs]

Is that to prevent mold? Or is there another reason? I won't be able to age/dry them beforehand, unfortunately, but they came from a tree that had been dead for years, if that makes a difference - so the wood is probably drier than the wood of a fresh, living tree. The wood chips feel pretty dry and light.

Yes. As others have mentioned, there is a particular kind of mold that favors green wood chips (which is different than the other fungi that are part of the composting process).

But an already dead tree with the wood already dry is a different story.

 

[aart]

Why would the greenness be a problem? I threw mounds of green clipped grass in there in the summer and it was fine... In hot humid weather, too. The chickens spread it around and it dried up.

That's fine as long as it gets dried up before molds grow on it.
Size of clippings can make a difference too.
I don't mow often so clippings are rather large and coarse, so am judicious with grass clippings, because of the mold and also because my confined bird can gorge themselves on the greenery and plug up their crops.

You ideally want to age chips due to certain molds such as aspergillus which is toxic to chickens and favors "green" wood

Yep, 'green' wood is wet, chip pile is even wetter if tree was in leaf.
Lots of organisms living on the bark find that moist substrate a great place to grow into quantities that can be toxic.

 

[3KillerBs]

Size of clippings can make a difference too.
I don't mow often so clippings are rather large and coarse, so am judicious with grass clippings, because of the mold and also because my confined bird can gorge themselves on the greenery and plug up their crops.

This summer I used grass clippings in both pen and coop but I let them dry completely before raking. It that state they held little appeal for birds who had plenty of fresh greenery to nibble and weren't at risk of rot they way fresh ones are.

One time in collecting grass clippings for garden mulch my neighbor dumped a load I didn't know about at a time I couldn't get out to the garden for a couple days and in just 2-3 days it went absolutely putrid.

Rotting cabbage putrid.

Ever since I've been careful to collect only dry grass clippings.

 

[aart]

it went absolutely putrid.

Yes, Yuk.

This summer I used grass clippings in both pen and coop but I let them dry completely before raking.

Yep, I do this too (weather permitting), I call it 'haying'.

 

[K0k0shka]

Good to know about the different kinds of mold, thanks! I went and looked at the wood chips again this morning. They are very pale and feel dry and lightweight, like playground chips. Or like hacked up firewood (the kind you buy from the store so it's dry). I don't have a pile of green chips to do a direct comparison, and I can't say just how dried out they are, but I'd say they're definitely drier than fresh, living wood. I'll rake the chips in the run periodically to get them exposed to the elements, and won't cover the leftover pile, and I'll keep an eye on things.

As for grass, my situation is different. I'm in the 'burbs, so my yard isn't all that big. Also, at the height of the season, I mow every week, or at least every other week, so the clippings are 1-2" long at most. My chickens don't free range and that's the only grass they see, so they LOVED every dumping. I'd dump it in the run and they'd entertain themselves for the rest of the day spreading it around and eating it. By the next morning, the top layer would turn to hay, so then they'd entertain themselves on the second day by flipping the hay over to reveal fresher grass to eat underneath. And so on until it would all dry out and turn to hay. My (good) neighbors across the street, who don't have chickens, developed a serious grass stink problem because they'd collect their clippings in barrels that would sit in the heat for 2 weeks waiting for yard waste pick up, and they'd stiiiiiiink - forget cabbage, that was a human feces kind of stink. So bad that, apparently, somebody called the health department on them! My chickens solved the problem by offering their recycling services, and for the rest of the summer, my neighbors would let me know as soon as they mowed, and I'd dump their clippings in my run as well. So the chickens got clippings quite often, but I never had any problems with mold, everything got spread around and turned to hay very quickly.

So right now underneath the thick layer of chips, there's a whole summer's worth of two backyards' worth of grass clippings, about 5-6 bags of fall leaves, and whatever else I threw in there since the spring. I'll make sure to stir it around periodically.

 

[3KillerBs]

So right now underneath the thick layer of chips, there's a whole summer's worth of two backyards' worth of grass clippings, about 5-6 bags of fall leaves, and whatever else I threw in there since the spring. I'll make sure to stir it around periodically.

In other words, you've created chicken heaven under their feet!

 

[K0k0shka]

In other words, you've created chicken heaven under their feet!

Haha yes, it's SO satisfying watching them dig through it that it kinda makes me want to be a chicken digging around with them, too! And now they have enough depth that they can dig a trench and be half buried in stuff, heads down, with just their tails sticking up in the air

 

[aart]

I went and looked at the wood chips again this morning. They are very pale and feel dry and lightweight, like playground chips.

I think they'll be fine.