SleepyFairy Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Hi everyone, I have four beautiful girls who free range often and live in a woodchip area when they're not Thing is, I'm not sure how often I should be changing the entire woodchip area. So far I;ve done it once after 4 weeks and its now about 4 wks again. It's gone a bit mulched up (although not mushy) where they trample they're food into it (am i filling up the grub too much??) and figured that they would happier with fresh woodchip when its like this. Am I right? I change their straw every few days (as they quite rightly refuse to lay if its mucky!!) and their poop underneath and have cleaned the whole eglu every 4-6 weeks or so. have only had them around 3 months now so only cleaned them twice and they are due for a clean this weekend. Anyhoo, rabbiting on so just wanted to know, when do you change the woodchip if you have them on a woodchip site? Thanks! Fairy x x x Peach Fudge PeeWeeFluff Nancy and TigerPop the jack russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom123 Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I have mine in a large uncovered wood chip run which is about 4m x 3m and I change this about every 3-4 months HOWEVER I rake it over every other morning so that it doesn't get too compacted and it stays fresh. I would defiantly leave it for a few more weeks as it is quite expensive and you don't wanna be wasting it! Good luck Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I have had my woodchip down over three months and haven't changed it yet. I rake over the woodchip at the door end every couple of days and take the Eglu off the other end every week or two and reach in from that end to rake over the woodchip. When I do my major rake over I sprinkle Aubiose on the surface and rake that in as it absorbs damp and smells really well As your run is uncovered the woodchips may get a bit slimey from time to time - could you cover it at all with a clear tarp or clear sheets of plastic? this would prolong the life of the woodchips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleepyFairy Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 Thats great. thanks so muc for all your replies. where do i get aubiose from and what is it? j x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Its chopped straw or help - cant remember which! its horse bedding so horsey shops or agricultural merchants are a good starting place. Hemcore is similar but co"Ooops, word censored!"r and Easibed is another similar thing too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Hi We originally used wood chips on a concrete base and we like yourself changed it between 2 and 4 weeks because it got really horrible. Hens are forever spilling their food and that makes a mess at the front end of walk (Eglu run) like yourself I wish there was an answer to stop this from happening. Anyway with the advice of the lovely people on this forum I swapped to aubiose a fortnight ago and WOW it is brilliant. I also purchased a a clear glass tarp from http://www.tarpaflex.co.uk/acatalog/glass-clear-pvc-tarpaulins.html £20 or so good luck Kit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Hi SleepyFairy! We've had our girls a similar length of time to you and had them on woodchip in their extended Cube run. The run was fairly well covered but we found we were changing the woodchip every four weeks or so. A couple of weeks ago, we changed to Hemcore (it's just like Auboise, made from hemp) - one bale is a fair bit cheaper than the 2-3 bags of woodchip and the girls absolutely love it. They have quite a deep layer and are constantly scratching about in it, kicking it out of the end of the run. I love it too as it's impregnated with stuff to keep flies away, so it smells lemony-fresh! You need to have your run well-covered tho because the aub/hemcore soaks up moisture, so a clear tarp and some bungees would be needed. We have clear corrugated plastic fixed along the sides of the run and a couple of BnQ shower curtains (green to match the cube!) along the top. Aubiose and Hemcore are FAB!! (also you can see the poo, so no more crawling into the run and putting your knees into well-camoufalge chook-poop!) T x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
