Wood chips in chicken run?

[AZchickens17]

So I just switched my chicks to their coop and I have wood chips at the bottom of their run... Can I keep woodchips in their? Should I scrape them out and put grass in? I also have a few rocks in their but they are not small enough to eat.

 

[mobius]

Actually the best thing for chickens is a combination of many materials, that they will mostly mix for you. IMHO, no need to remove wood chips! Plenty of people use them. But yes, add grass clippings, pine cones, leaves and so on. It will become lovely compost and keep the chickens entertained plus yummy stuff hides in there for them to eat.

Not sure if I am misunderstanding but if you are thinking of PLANTING grass in their run, don't unless you use something like a salad bar (do a search for this). The chickens will never let the grass grow....

 

[TwoCrows]

I recently switched my coop and run floor litter over from sand/dirt to pine bark mulch/wood chips. The birds love it and so do I! The dust and dirt is now under control, the floor was much warmer this past winter, it smells wonderful and it is very easy to clean. I am sure keeping it dry is important so I have been tarping up my run during bad weather but so far I am hooked!

 

[myfivegirls]

I put weeds from the garden, grass clippings, wood mulch, leaves, sawdust, whatever else I have available in my chicken yard. I have used mulch hay at times, they rarely try to eat it, as it's brown and "not appetizing" when they usually have grass from their rotational grass paddocks. I haven't had impacted crops from the hay or grass clippings, but as others said, usually they have grass, but not always. Sometimes the paddocks need to recover, so they don't have grass while it re-grows. Once I use up the last of my mulch hay, I may not get more, simply because it mats down, especially in high traffic areas. The only place where it's worked fairly well is in my one coop's compost area that is on a side hill. I put the hay at the top, and they scratch & shred it up, as it works its way down the hill. By the time it's at the bottom, it stays pretty fluffy. Plus, I don't walk in that area much, so it's only the chickens "compacting" it.
They love it all, but especially when it's composting very well & there's dozens of earthworms in each shovel-full. I've been composting with my chickens in their run for many years, well, actually ever since I started in 2008.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Ok. I haven't taken the wood chips out because they seem to enjoy it. I am mowing my lawn sometime soon and will throw some grass clippings in there along with some leaves from my plants. They seem to enjoy it

I highly advise against throwing the grass clippings in there. You have to be very careful with clippings. If it is small short pieces, a little bit will be ok (make sure you provide them chick grit), but for chicks or even juveniles longer pieces can be deadly. I never put chicks on hay because of losing them to crop blockages. Grass can do the same. It winds up in a ball in their crop and wont move and they are basically blocked from nutrition and will starve to death. Blockages in growing birds can happen anywhere along their digestive system, but usually ends up in the crop. So, don't be generous with the grass clippings and make sure it is short enough to not wind up in them. And provide grit.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have always dumped ALL of my grass clippings, from about an acre of lawn into my coop and run with all ages of birds. This gets dumped in along with leaves, wood chips, shavings (when I used to buy them) garden debris, hay, and any other compostable material. Never had problems with impacted crop or any of the other issues that "they say" are caused by grass clippings. I can see how one could have an issue if long grass was dumped into a run that has been totally stripped of vegetation. The birds would then go to town on the sudden "bonanza" of green matter, and very well could get an impaction. But, if the birds have access to grass on a regular basis, it will not be an issue.

 

[FridayYet]

I recently switched my coop and run floor litter over from sand/dirt to pine bark mulch/wood chips. The birds love it and so do I! The dust and dirt is now under control, the floor was much warmer this past winter, it smells wonderful and it is very easy to clean. I am sure keeping it dry is important so I have been tarping up my run during bad weather but so far I am hooked!

Great!

I really need some more wood chips in mine. I throw everything in the run, grass, weeds, shavings but the majority is chopped cottonwood leaves. Can't compost too many since they are pretty alkaline. Most of my run is under a roof, so I have to water everything down once a week or so or it just turns to powder and blows away. One of these days I'm going to soak it well and till it in again to keep breaking up the hardpan underneath.

 

[AZchickens17]

It is so easy to just throw food scraps into the run and whatever the chicks don't eat gets turned into some good compost!

 

[lazy gardener]

I love to hear that more and more people are switching to DL in both run and coop. I've been letting my flock out for a very limited free range time, but only when I can supervise due to hawk predation. I came back from running errands today, just in time to see a hawk take off from the ground in my back yard chicken area. He'd have killed a bird for sure if I'd let them out this morning. Any how, When it's time for my flock to go back in their run, I toss a couple of cups of wheat in there. That little bit of wheat has got them churning that DL with increased vigor. I'm loving what they are doing in there. I collected 130 bags of leaves last fall. Also had 2 loads of chips delivered, and picked up several truck loads myself. It will not be enough for my many uses!

 

[I Love Layers]

I would definently scrape the wood chips out and put grass or leaves in! They will eat less feed if they have something to scratch through all day.