Wood chips in chicken run?

[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!

 

[JONNIEGIRL]

I have all full grown hens, is it okay to put grass clippings in the run? We live on 5 acres, so we have lots of grass!

 

[TwoCrows]

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.

Thanks for all the info here!! I was wondering if I should water mine down. I have noticed some of it gets a bit crunched down and turns to powder and this is what I am trying to avoid! My run has a roof on it too and is attached to the coop. So only three sides to deal with. We lined the west side of the run with 2x4's set close together as a weather break so only the south and east side are really open. Winter was pretty wimpy and other than a couple of rainy days a couple of weeks ago, I haven't had to deal with much rain, yet. LOL

Getting all my dirt and sand out of my coop and run was extremely brutal!! HOLY CROW there was load after load after load of it! And speaking of "hardpan", I think over the years of my chickens scratching, the original floor has been dug through and is a few inches lower!! I swear, I hauled out more than the litter I put in there!!

 

[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!

 

[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.

 

[LeslieSB]

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!

Hi- hope this finds you well. Scooping the sand in my coop is giving me bad arm/shoulder pain. Did you remove sand before you put mulch/wood chips or leave it? Thanks!

 

[LeslieSB]

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!

Hi- hope this finds you well. Scooping the sand in my coop is giving me bad arm/shoulder pain. Did you remove sand before you put mulch/wood chips or leave it? Thanks!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Hi- hope this finds you well. Scooping the sand in my coop is giving me bad arm/shoulder pain. Did you remove sand before you put mulch/wood chips or leave it? Thanks!

Looks like this thread is about four years old, so the folks may not be around.

I think it’s be ideal to remove most/all of the sand...but if all that digging will cause pain, just putting the wood chips down over the sand will probably work well enough!

 

[McKeownkd]

I have wood chips in mine and they LOVE it. It's on top of regular dirt/grass. And they LOVE pecking around for different goodies. It also absorbs water well, and when I see too much poop, Just give a good stir up. There's about 2-3 inches of it over the ground. I say keep them! I also sometimes throw in some branches or leaves for them to root through.

 

[peeboo]

I have wood chips in mine and they LOVE it. It's on top of regular dirt/grass. And they LOVE pecking around for different goodies. It also absorbs water well, and when I see too much poop, Just give a good stir up. There's about 2-3 inches of it over the ground. I say keep them! I also sometimes throw in some branches or leaves for them to root through.

What kind of wood chips do you use?