wood chips for run

[David61]

you are good to go. the birds will turn it over many times. i just cleaned mine out the other day after two years. very good dirt. Here is a what i did many months ago. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/refill-on-deep-litter-run.1393987/#post-22878323

 

[David61]

another freshing up every 4-6 months and yes , they are damp and have some fungus in there because it is not being turned up, but the chickens will and their poop will start the ball rolling to compost. No smell, No flies. Good stuff.

 

[David61]

Starting out with just a dirt run i would put at least 4" deep. I just use a heavy Bobcat and dug my run down 6" and went back with 8-12" of new chips. I get them free and can use a Bobcat for free as well. Easy on the old man. LOL

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Starting out with just a dirt run i would put at least 4" deep. I just use a heavy Bobcat and dug my run down 6" and went back with 8-12" of new chips. I get them free and can use a Bobcat for free as well. Easy on the old man. LOL

Haha that's the arrangement I need! My poor husband.

 

[David61]

my best friend owns the tree service!

 

[Grandmas Coop]

It smells kind of moldy. It might be in my head since he mentioned it

microbial breakdown of the wood is natural and a very good thing

 

[3KillerBs]

microbial breakdown of the wood is natural and a very good thing

Yes, my wood chip piles smell like forest floor. This is a good thing.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

With a little luck, my wood chip pile will be arriving next week. I'll smell it right away and report back!

 

[Sally PB]

Getting eager for my chip pile... Not until November 22 when we have some trees taken down. Then I'll have 8-10 yards of chips!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Getting eager for my chip pile... Not until November 22 when we have some trees taken down. Then I'll have 8-10 yards of chips!

That's great that you can leverage chips right from your property. Best I could do is paying $10/yard for them...but they'll make the run a lot cleaner, less muddy, and better smelling...so it's worth it.

Since I'm spending money, I might grab a sack of BOSS and toss a cup down before dumping each wheelbarrow load of chips...motivation for the flock to scratch around...and maybe some sprout (although it's getting cold for that, I guess).