Vigoro Mulch

[contrachicks]

Hi, I just lay down brown mulch - Vigoro brand from Home Depot - in my chicken run today. I noticed my jeans got brown stain on them from bending on the mulch to spread it around. Is it safe for chickens? I can't find any information on the Home Depot website about what it is made out of nor can I find a website for the manufacturer to ask them this.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-2-cu-ft-Bagged-Brown-Mulch-52050196/205606287

Anyone know anything about this mulch? Please let me know. Is it safe for the chicken run?

 

[rosemarythyme]

This is a dyed mulch. Is it actually dangerous, I don't know (I doubt it), but I would recommend sticking to products that are as close to natural form as possible.

IF you have room to store a pile of wood chips, that would be a better choice and possibly more economical (I get chips for free, you may be able to get chips for free or for a delivery fee using services like chipdrop.com or by calling local tree service companies).

 

[Brooks_]

After a search of google and this site, it appears that cypress mulch is ok. I am curious about tossing the pine shavings from the coop into the run. Planning a full clean out next month.

 

[RojoMarz]

After a search of google and this site, it appears that cypress mulch is ok. I am curious about tossing the pine shavings from the coop into the run. Planning a full clean out next month.

Our land is covered in Pine trees. We mulch/chip them. In the summer, the mulch/chips are stored in a pile. Before winter, I use empty feed bags to bag some up. I use the pine mulch/chips in the coop. After coop use, I sweep into the run. I have no issues with the practice.

 

[perkolator]

My understanding is a lot of the colored bagged mulch is chipped pallets/framing lumber, with dye. A truckload of arborist mulch with all the chipped canopy branches/leaves would be the best since it will break down a little faster than woody chips and attract worms/bugs/soil biology

 

[Brooks_]

A truckload of arborist mulch with all the chipped canopy branches/leaves would be the best since it will break down a little faster than woody chips and attract worms/bugs/soil biology

I would totally use that, I'm just concerned about cedar content.

 

[perkolator]

Fresh arborist mulch heats up really fast and starts decomposing within 24hrs, so if it was all cedar mulch I'd just let the pile sit for a week or two, then use it. Inside a closed coop or where there's little airflow, maybe not use cedar with lots of plicatic acid in the air - but in an outdoor run, for sure I'd use it

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would totally use that, I'm just concerned about cedar content.

You can ask what's in the chip pile - sometimes they can ID what trees they cleared from. For me, cedar is very commonplace and all chip piles here have some.

I would probably avoid using all cedar, large volumes of Eastern cedar (the type used in hope chests), very fresh cedar (well, fresh anything really... pine sap is awful!), or cedar in closed-in environments (i.e. indoor brooder, coop lacking in ventilation). My coop is well over recommended ventilation plus has a high ceiling for added air volume.

All freshly cut chips will be aromatic to some degree so airing them out no matter the type is always a good idea (plus it avoids the aspergillosis issue).

 

[Brooks_]

You can ask what's in the chip pile - sometimes they can ID what trees they cleared from. For me, cedar is very commonplace and all chip piles here have some.

I would probably avoid using all cedar, large volumes of Eastern cedar (the type used in hope chests), very fresh cedar (well, fresh anything really... pine sap is awful!), or cedar in closed-in environments (i.e. indoor brooder, coop lacking in ventilation). My coop is well over recommended ventilation plus has a high ceiling for added air volume.

All freshly cut chips will be aromatic to some degree so airing them out no matter the type is always a good idea (plus it avoids the aspergillosis issue).

Eastern cedar and pine are very common here. I'll probably just stick with tossing the shavings in the run then top it off with cypress later on. I'll let the chickens do the spreading. They're very good at it and seem to enjoy it.