mictogirl Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 As the title says really! We're getting the choocks in 12 days (and counting) so have prepared a woodchipped area for them. Problem is, it took 9 bags of woodchip to cover and at a fiver a bag from B&Q, that's £45 - if we're going to have to change the base every month that's going to start getting expensive - should I think about something else instead? I assume as well the old, soiled woodchip will compost fine? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick and it doesn't need changing? TIA Laura. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornet Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 I had the same dilema when I set up the chicken area in preparation for my Cube. I would strongly suggest that you buy a bag of Hempcore or Ambiose and spread a layer of that over the top of your woodchippings. I use Hempcore which I buy from a supplier of Horse products. It is about £7 a bag but lasts ages. I gave them a really good clean out this weekend and just raked out the Hempcore and spread a new layer on top of the chippings. I can honestly say that if you do this you will hardly find any poo on the floor. Hempcore is really absorbant. I also put it in the trays under the roosting bars. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 I've got bark in the 'chicken garden' (a fenced but not foxproof area that they can use when I'm home) and i tend to change it about every 3 months. I put it on the flowerbeds in the front garden. Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleBoPeep Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 Our woodchip has become very waterlogged with all this rain. Chickens are out most of the time but I do worry about them standing in it. Does ambiose and hempcore do a good job of soaking it up. We do have concrete slabs underneath and I just want them to be as comfortable as possible over the winter months. We get our woodchip free from local chicken farm so do change it often but I think we need something else too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 You need to cover the run with a shower curtain or simlilar with Aubiose as it is super absorbant and soaks up every drop of rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jools+6 Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 You need to cover the run with a shower curtain or simlilar with Aubiose as it is super absorbant and soaks up every drop of rain. egluntine , how big is a bale of auboise (for storage ) and can you line inside the house with it ? we use plain old woodchips inside the house at the moment , a big bale does the hens and the rabbit for ages but with winter here .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 Sorry can't advise on woodchip as I've never used it. Outside the run is just grass for free ranging, but based on last winter that will all get eaten and turned into mud very soon. Inside the run, I use Auboise (horse bedding made of hemp) which costs me £8 per bale and I use 1 inch deep in the run and I change it once a month. It composts well. You do need to cover the run with a shower curtain or similar though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cordelia Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 i've had bark for the last couple of months, and thought I'd try wood chip...I only have one bag down so far, but over the last two and a half months have used 8 bags of bark chippings..over 2 months... as my girls have a tendency to empty their grub and spread all the pellets on the ground, making an awful wet mess...I do feel the need to rake it all out and replace periodically. I have also just top-dressed inside their run when I havent had time to dig it out.. well my thought on woodchips are that they seem ok......(i've only had them down a day..though.) But I dont think they will compost very well.....but then forrest bark probably will take some composting too.... I put the used bark on a patch of soil which formerly had shrubs, which all died (at least 10 of them) when our neighbour installed a shed next to them, complete with gravel base, which I believe he sprayed with weed killer....which kindly killed all the shrubs on our side of the fence... As our soil is clay, I dont think the forrest bark, incoporating chicken poop will hurt at all... However it will be different matter concerning the woodchip....I wont put that on the soil, as I dont think it will incorporate well and may be too acidic....so may not buy it again after using the next 3 bags... Also our compost bin is now full, and we need to think of getting a new one...somehting to bear in mind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HENthusiastic Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 Ive got a covered walk in run about 12' x 9' that is filled with wood chip. I go around daily with a rubber glove and pick up any poos I can see easily. I have added the odd bag now and again when it seems to be running low (I gues some of it breaks down, or gets picked out with the poo). Over the summer I s"Ooops, word censored!"ed out about 3 bags full and replaced. Wood chip works really well for me and is relatively cheap. I use auboise in the house and a bale lasts me ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 If you're worried about the cost of replacing the woodchip then contact a local tree surgeon, most of whom will deliver a load of hard wood chips for next to nothing, sometimes for free! Personally I would not pay B&Q prices for woodchip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cordelia Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 read a post where you can just hose the wood chip once its down in the run, rather than keep digging it out..like i do with the bark.. (I only have one bag on top of the bark right now... and the girls have kicked most of that out of the run (its a lighter colour...so I can easily see.) monkeys....... still no eggs ...sigh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teee Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Hi everyone ... New to this... Hope this post is not in the wrong place ..I`v just put down soft woodchippings for my girls yesterday,(should i of got hard wood? ).. i have noticed this morning that they are bathing in it..... Is this enough for them or do i need to put some soil in as well .... The girls do free range at some point every day, tho do have to share the garden with a very very nauthty boxer who would like nothing better than to eat them .. so they have to take it in turns.... i am just about to start there new WIR so wont have that problem to much.... I want to plant it with some shrubs as well... any one no wot ones are best for them Thanks.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessandra Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 so, basicaly, woodchip is preferable to bark in an uncovered run? I, like others, use hemcore or aubiose in the cube run and in the house but my main run is uncovered and looks like a muddy swimming pool today. I've tried rubber chippings, dont like them and then used two bales of straw as a temporary measure..need to know where to go now..woodchip by the sounds of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockadoodle1 Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Ive had a bale of woodchip in the cube run now for 12 weeks and I don't poo pick just rake it over now and again. No smells cos I garlic their food every day Occasionally shake a little Stalosan in the run. Woodchip is the answer i think although it takes longer to break down than Abiose or Hemcore which are plant based. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieD Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 ive got woodchips in my eglu run (uncovered) i put 4 bags in when i set it up in jan then the other week i topped it up for the first time with 2 more bags- i wouldnt say there is any need to take it all out and replace, just top it up. the run is uncovered so from experience i find the rain washes it! its really clean etc had no probs with it. katie x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 We have chipped bark in ours and we buy it at 4 bags for £15 from Wyvale garden centres. We change the top layer every month to 6 weeks depending on how mucky it looks. Most of the run is covered with corrugated plastic sheets and the girls turn it over pretty well and it keeps them busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgieB Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 We are now thinking of using woodchip in our run. At the moment we have rubber chippings but these make it very difficult to pick the pooh up so I have been getting the hose on them. Unfortunately our garden gets quite water logged, so the poohs are just hanging around which is causing quite a smell. Getting worried that the neighbours may complain. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what we could use to keep the smell down? My fella says that bicarbonate of soda is a good odour nutriliser, but is this safe for hens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoanneFrizzle Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Hi, I am reading all your advice with interest as I'm very new to all this. Ours are in their run on grass at the moment but hubby is preparing an area possibly on pebbles for the run. They will free range every day for 1-2 hours at least. Would pebbles by ok? or should I get wood chips. I'm thinking pebbles would be easier to hose down. We have got very good drainage. Any help appreciated. Joanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 As long as you have good drainage I would think the pebbles would work fine but they will dig into it so the soil will mix with them. You can put a membrane underneath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vix_Chicks Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Hello there! I too am just building a coop for my chickens. They have their eglu, but they will be within a contained area. I can find bark for sale, but haven't seen wood chippings. Please would somebody help me and let me know of a high street store that might sell them. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I bought natural playground woodchip from B&Q it was £12 for 3 or 4 bags. I found this better than the hardwood woodchip which just seemed too unforgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Hello there! I too am just building a coop for my chickens. They have their eglu, but they will be within a contained area. I can find bark for sale, but haven't seen wood chippings. Please would somebody help me and let me know of a high street store that might sell them. Thank you. try your feed merchant or horsey type place easibed,cushionbed or simular are woodchips I paid £4.50 for 25kg on Saturday for cushionbed the bales about the size of 4 B&Q bags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Hi In my I use hemcore in the nest and am still on the original lot since I think May 09 I sprinkle it with the lice or mite powder (mix it in) and its fine I am going to change that before winter. Line the trays with newspaper and change those every 3-4 days etc The run is half covered and on slabs so the dry end is woodchip which stays dry The open end gets soaked....its all been down since May and I just sweep it to the edges every evening into big mounds(if its wet I use a coal shovel to shovel it up) Then the chickens put it all back around the run. Repeat every evening! I did recently think it started to smell and collected half a bag of well rotted woodchip etc..however I just ended up putting 4 more bags of chips in as the old wet woodchip seemed to have disintegrated. Sweeping and filling the feeder takes 5 mins I change the water (galvanised and scrub it) once a week or in v hot weather twice a week. I find them very low maitenance indie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJuff Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I have spent the last few days raking out very soiled Easibed (horsey bedding) and putting slabs down. It's quite a narrow run with three 45cm paving slabs width but it's long . . . . . I'll get to the end eventually. The space at the side where I can't fit in another paving slab I'm going to fill with stones and then put a thin layer of bark/wood chips on the slabs. This way I can shovel out all the mess every few weeks and have good drainage at the side when I hose everything down. I must say I'm very pleased with my efforts so far. I just don't want a repeat of last winter's horrid wet smell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
