Chicken bald back

[Justadmin]

Hi all,

 

I have built a "play pen" for our two girls. It's not their run - they have a predator proof WIR with a roof which has a floor of slabs topped with hardwood chippings. This is where they spend most of their time when we're out or at work. The play pen idea came after I was trying to do some gardening whilst the girls were free ranging and I wasn't able to owing to the fact that every time I moved my trowel or spade I had a chicken poking her beak into the ground right where I wanted to dig.

 

So I've fenced off a section of the garden which is currently "Cotswold cream" stones on top of some old AstroTurf that was there when we moved in. It was a dead bit of the garden. It's a place where they can go and frolic and scratch and dig to their hearts content to keep them busy if I am outside but unable to give them due attention. I'm putting some logs and things in there, lots of stuff to keep them busy. At any one time I don't imagine them to be in there for more than two hours. It will then be poo picked after each use.

 

My question is, for two hens and such minimal use, could I use some cheap and cheerful bark chips on the floor? Wilko does bags for £3 which are kept indoors, so they won't have been getting wet and mouldy at the famous DIY shop.

 

What do you think? Thanks

[mullethunter]

I would've thought that for short duration, totally outdoor use, they'd be fine. There wouldn't be any build up of spores because of the fresh air. Just my opinion.

[Ursula123]

I use bark both in the cube run which is covered and stays nice and dry and also the Omlet fence run where they spend most of the day which is open to the elements. It gets raked over every couple of days and no problems with mould.

[Justadmin]

Thank you! That's all the encouragement I needed! Time to drag the husband to Wilko tomorrow after work. He'll be thrilled!

 

Thanks!

[chickencam]

My two runs are both covered and have a deep floor of bark in top of the natural soil, I have used it ever since I first got the girls in 2007 when we didn't know that you shouldn't, and have not had any issues. I have had some that have lived to a ripe old age in good health.

[sjp]

bark is packed wet so gets a lot of mold in it which can cause breathing problems. best to use woodchip horse bedding it'll be dry and dust free I pay about £4.20 for a 25kg bale which will go a lot further than a 50ltr bale of bark

[Chickabee]

I used bark once. It was horrible. I think it must depend what type you get. Mine went smelly and damp and squishy. In their dust bath mine have potting compost (from last years tomatoes), sand and wood ash. Their run is on dirt, on which I use Easy Bed or straw, which gets composted. A tip I pinched from someone else was just to give them a huge pile or bale of straw and let them at it, they love playing in it and scratching and picking the little seeds out

[Justadmin]

Update - thanks for the replies everyone. Well I've made my bed of bark and I'm now going to have to sleep on it. Bought 4 bags from wilkos, emptied them out to cover the "play pen" area. The visual effect is actually quite pleasing, with the logs and whatnot it looks like foresty, so I quite like that. However I think after a couple of months I will switch to something else, hardwood chips like their run perhaps. Or maybe auboise.

 

After it was emptied out and spread out I did notice some white mould on some of the pieces - not loads, not everywhere, just on some. I know this is the reason why people say bark is bad. I'm hoping that if I leave it to dry out in tomorrow's sun then it might make it alright? I've been googling for stories of people who have actually had hens get sick from being on bark but I can't find any. If anything I'm just finding stories of people who have used bark (mould and all) for years and not had any problems. So I'm mostly really confused right now.

 

Argh. I just hope my girls will be okay. It'll only be for a couple of hours a day at most, and not even everyday. And it's out in the open air. It'll be fine. Right?

[Chickabee]

It sounds lovely. I would think problems are caused when the hens are spending most of their living hours on and amongst damp mouldy bark, which can cause respiratory problems. Would love to see a photo of the girls playing

[Justadmin]

Oh thank you chickabee that's most kind. I hope it will be okay for them. I only want them to be happy and healthy, I'd be aghast if I'd actually caused them illness. I've uploaded a photo of the basic set up to imgur, I'm hoping the below link might work.

 

http://i.imgur.com/wKXQdux.jpg

[Chickabee]

It looks brilliant. They'll love it. You'll know if it's not going to work out with the bark soon enough, and as you say, you can change it for something else. You could rake in some mealworms before you let them in. They'll do a bit of natural airating for you

[Cat tails]

Oh thank you chickabee that's most kind. I hope it will be okay for them. I only want them to be happy and healthy, I'd be aghast if I'd actually caused them illness. I've uploaded a photo of the basic set up to imgur, I'm hoping the below link might work.

 

http://i.imgur.com/wKXQdux.jpg

 

Making into an image doesn't really work. It's too big. But now at least it's clickable!

[mullethunter]

I've uploaded a photo of the basic set up

 

They can't wait to get in there

[Luvachicken]

That looks really nice

 

Based on my own experiences I would stay away from straw bedding though, just my opinion, but chicken bedding that I assumed was safe caused 2 of my girls to need crop operations.

[Chickabee]

That was chopped straw wasn't it? I use real straw

[BridieLou]

Does anyone throw hardwood chip/straw/auboise directly onto the soil in their run?

 

I covered all their soil with membrane, then put woodchip over the top in an attemtpt to cut down on mud. All looks fine (a week in), but I'm wondering if it was worth the hassle and whether they'd actuyally be happier on soil with a deep layer of hard wood chip.

 

Any advice welcome!

[Cat tails]

I have just soil. But at one time had wood chips on it, when it was really wet. Not really a good solution. Made the soil very choppy and disappeared quickly.

Now they just have soil and I quite like it. They too as they dust bathe in it very often. (I did dig some pavement slabs in, to keep them from digging themselves a way to China...)