wood chips

[clucksbc]

hello...
I would like to convince my hubby...we need a chipper..
tons of tree;s on our property...and might prove a handy helper...
Just wondering if anyone...has used..the chips for there chickens...
I currently...am using pine shavings...though they are just minimally costly...
overall in life...I am trying to be as self sufficient..as i can...and not realy on hving to buy things...
any thoughts would be apreciated

 

[TwoCrows]

Are you planning on using them as bedding in the coop? The problem with chips is that they don't absorb moisture like shavings. They get wet and stay wet and mat down. So the smell may go up inside the coop. I understand your interest in not having to buy. I completely agree with you. Have you tried the "deep litter" method with shavings? You can turn them everyday for months and never have to clean the entire coop or add much shavings over that period. I ended up having to use grass hay in my coop as my girls wouldn't stop eating the shavings. Although I do clean out the poop in the coop everyday since the deep litter method is not as effective with hay. I buy about 4, 3 strand bales of grass hay a year. (my coop is not that big.) I only clean it down to the floor a few times a year, since I clean up the poop everyday, and the total cost is only about $60 a year.

 

[clucksbc]

ahh...didn't know of the moisture issue...thanks twocrows

I...sprinkle with diatanasios earth...and throw in shavings...about every three days...they just seem to make such a mess of it...
I tend to clean it all out once every month and a half...but really...why bother...looks just the same the next day

should probably stretch it longer because..the door is not much wider than me and it is a job getting it all out...

I was thinking of getting some hay for winter...but somewhere i had heard...it molds easier...
guess there never is only one right answer

 

[arcatamarcia]

I chip and use the chips in my outdoor run. They're great for keeping the chicken's feet clean and dry when it's wet. You just have to keep adding new as the old begins to decay. I wouldn't use it under the night-time roost. It just isn't absorbent enough and would probably smell.

 

[BWKatz]

Lots of people use leaves or pinestraw in their runs. Too moisture resitant to use under roosts though. I use sand.

 

[wyododge]

FWIW we use our chipper to crack corn. on its lowest setting (idle) the corn just kinda runs through it. We live in a farming community and we get bulk corn for dirt cheep.

If you run your chipper really fast, and run the wood through slowly, it will make finer shavings.