Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[jennym]

Hello,

 

We are planning to put down some kind of surface in our run for the winter and have decided to go for wood chips, but we're having trouble finding a place to get them, or someone who delivers for a reasonable price. B&Q don't have any - although I've found lots of people on forums who say they do so maybe I'm missing it on the website?. Homebase have some 'decorative wood chips' (link below) but I'm not sure they're suitable as they are coloured, and they don't say if they are hard or soft wood (we'd like hard wood).

 

Have searched ebay but they come in huge pallets (no space for storage) and/or charge as much for delivery as for the chips.

 

Does anyone know a source of good wood chips in/near NW London? Or has anyone seen them in B&Q lately - maybe they just don't have them on the website? Any opinions on the Homebase wood chips I've linked to?

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Homebase chips - http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=060587&Trail=searchtext%3ECHIPS

[Salop Chuck]

Hi Jennym

I buy hardwood wood chips from Flyte So Fancy http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/cgi-bin/cm000001.pl and have done for a few years now. The quality is excellent and it will see you through the winter and beyond. I am afraid there is nothing cheap out there and you cannot avoid carriage costs (as we all appreciate the cost of fuel in our cars etc).

 

It is much better than bark and doesn't become slushy or degrade after rain. A plastic sack holding 70 litres, weighing approx 18-20kg will cover approx 10 sq ft with a 3" depth.

 

Hope this helps.

[jennym]

That's great, the chips & shipping are a lot less than I've seen elsewhere. I'd probably need 3 sacks for my 3 metre run which would be £48 including delivery (went through the check-out procedure to see), not too bad at all.

 

Just the ticket - thanks very much!

[Redwing]

Lots of tree surgeons will drop off woodchip on your drive for free or very cheap

[HH HENS]

Hi the trouble with tree surgeons is that you can get all sorts of bits and pieces in the wood and it is usually a mixture of soft and hard wood. So I didn't op for that in the end.

Just to say that flytes of fancy are good at working out the amount you need, as it is really important to have a good thick layer. I have used it for the last three years on my two very large walk in runs. I pooh pick it every day so you naturally take out the soiled wood,then compost it. I rake it every few days then every other week give it a good sprinkle of Stanofan S. Then as it gets a bit low just top up with another bag or two. I have not problem with chicken sick ground etc. They do free range out in the summer but spend alot more time in the run in the winter. i have done exhaustive searches for the cheapest hard wood and flytes is around the same as any others that I have found. You just cant get it from garden centres.

[Cheeky Chooky]

I buy the Hardwood Woodchip from Flyte So Fancy too...great stuff

[nikkichick]

http://www.lawnmowers4yourgarden.co.uk/mall/TFPInternational/

 

we got ours from here.

It's £6 for a 75ltr bag, or you can buy a bulk bag which is loooooads!

 

Carriage was very reasonable.