Henergy Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Can I just ask what you all mean by 'raking out' the woodchip ? Do you mean actually removing it & replacing it or do you mean pushing it around a bit to make the poo go to the bottom ? I have thick woodchip on grass in my cube run and my plan was to poo pick each week then rinse through with the hose & then add biodri. However, I can't see the poo as its the same colour as the wood !!! So should I just hose through or do I need to replace it ? I want the area to be clean but I don't want to get obsessive about it. I have been looking at some posts - so hence the question on definition of raking !!!!! (Sorry to sound so dippy !) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 not dippy at all, good question I think! I think it depends very much on the weather conditions. for example, over the summer - we have a WIR with easibed (at the mo, when it needs replacing it will be whatever else I can find cheap). I poo pick about once a month, when I just remove the big bits on the top layer that I can see. then I just rake it about a bit, which I assume breaks down the older and therefore more fragile bits of poo. then I throw some stalosan around the place and go away again... but when it comes to winter and everything gets wet I am a bit more active in terms of chucking the stalosan and/or diatom around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I rake out all the Aubiose every 6-8 weeks (or when it starts to look mucky), sprinkle some BioDri or ground sanitising powder to keep the soil free of any nasties then lay a new layer of Aubiose. I sprinkle more powder on top every fortnight. Easy and no fuss at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I have woodchip on soil. I do an infrequent 'poo pick' to get the noticeable lumps, but most just disappears into the woodchip through the chooks scratting around - this seems to be as effective is raking it over! I sterlise with Stalosan F occasionally and other than that leave it alone. I read somewhere that people rake out and replace the whole lot periodically - one post said every six months, one said they hadn't needed to do it for over 2 years. I've only had my girls since March but I've not had any problems so far - I don't propose to change it until I think it needs it - which on current performance will likely be quite some time! Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henergy Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Thank you everyone - thats good to hear that I'm thinking the right things. Now just to sort the leak !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
