Bark Chippings

C

craftycarrot

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Yikes !! Just found this article ! I was going to try and assist the drainage of my garden / quagmire using bark chippings , as there is literally no lawn left at all for my chooks to scratch around in , and Im worried this situation can be bad increasing parasite worm activity!
" There are two types of mulch produced as a by-product from forestry. One is chopped bark and the other is wood chips. Sometimes the two are mixed together if many small branches and twigs are mulched. As a substrate for an aviary or pen, it’s marvellous as it’s free-draining, but the dreaded aspergillus fungus just loves bark on which to grow. This is the fungus which, if it gets into poultry lungs and airsacs, slowly kills them. It’s dangerous as the spores can hide inside the airsacs where antibiotics have little effect. The birds can often seem fine right up until the end, but sometimes they do look ill first. If diagnosed early, fogging the affected bird with the disinfectant F10 does work, but the timing is critical.

If, however, only wood chips are used, these are too hard for the aspergillus fungus to colonize, so if you have a source of wood chips with no bark, you can indeed use this as a substrate and get your pen better drained. "

Was thinking of giving bark chippings a miss , just in case.... any idea where I could get pure wood chip (thats not the same as sawdust/wood chips that we use for bedding is it ?!?!)
Also , was thinking of perhaps running a fence down the centre of my roughly 35ft by 25ft garden and letting the grass grow back in each section, would each half still be enough space for 10 chooks to have a good scratch about in do you think ?! Cheers. CC

Cheers CC
 
No-not the same as shavings as packed in bags. I think you need to find yourself a local tree sugeon/wood yard and talk nicely to them! Ros
 
I put bark chippings in my Sablepoot's run,as it was really muddy.Could this be what killed Henny Penny I wonder?Does the article say Craftycarrot,if the birds do appear ill what the symptoms are?
 
Ooh eck! I've got bark chippings down in part of my run too :o Like you CC it was getting more like a quagmire with every rain drop!

Good idea about the friendly tree surgeon, still got the old cherry tree we had taken down last year,now got to find someone to chip it ;)
 
I use large/medium sized hard wood chips from B&Q there about £6 a bag. The cover quite well & do not attract mold etc.
 
Lydia said:
I put bark chippings in my Sablepoot's run,as it was really muddy.Could this be what killed Henny Penny I wonder?Does the article say Craftycarrot,if the birds do appear ill what the symptoms are?
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Hi lydia if mould/fungus etc start growing on the bark type chippings then it can harm poultry. Your best to use plain wood chips (That has no bark) which is just bits of plain old hard wood chopped up into fine pieces. I buy bags from B&Q they call it Hardwood chips or chippings. I try to buy the medium or large sized pieces of wood chips so there not to small. The birds turn them over to find insects etc. You can also ask a local wood cutter for hard wood chips as well if you know of one locally.
 
thanks Wraith,if there was mould in the bark chippings I used,what symptoms would an ill hen have?
 
Hi Lydia , it didnt say on the article , but I reckon if you google the illness it mentioned you could probably check symptoms if there are any ! Chickens I hear are notoriously good at hiding their illness right till the end though , so Im told ! Really sorry to hear about your 2 girls . Thanks for the B &Q tip off!CC
 
OH MY GOODNESS - I put bark chippings down and have noticed this sort of white fungus looking stuff in the earth - this must be what it is!!!! My poor chick chicks, I'm going to go home and dig all of it out pronto... They all had respiratory problems in the summer - could this be connected to the bark???
 
Im really worrying now - will it be enough if I just dig out the chicken coop where the bark has been? Or should I disinfect? If so, would Jays Fluid be ok and how long do I have to keep the chooks off for?
 
Id dig it out ,move run -if you are going to treat the area you need to leave the chooks clear of it for months Id think to get rid of the chemicals used. IF you are going to use a fungicide make sure its safe for poultry or you could be in more trouble--- Id check this with vet and agricultural merchants . Id think the best fungicide around be some prolonged hot dry sunny weather--ha, ha -fat chance of that!! ros.
 
NO LYDIA --------- You did not cause any probs. for poor HP. Aspergillosis will cause primarily respiratory symptoms , off food etc.,often a large no. of birds involved as all likely to be exposed to fungus. You described pallor, being generally off, loss of balance etc that sounds much more like some ghastly neurological/malignant disease over which you would have had no control and could not be treated . Please be REASSURED. Ros
 
podstable said:
NO LYDIA --------- You did not cause any probs. for poor HP. Aspergillosis will cause primarily respiratory symptoms , off food etc.,often a large no. of birds involved as all likely to be exposed to fungus. You described pallor, being generally off, loss of balance etc that sounds much more like some ghastly neurological/malignant disease over which you would have had no control and could not be treated . Please be REASSURED. Ros
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Thanks Ros,I assumed it would appear as some sort of respiratory problem,H.P. seemed aneamic if anything,I thought her loss of balance could be an ear problem,but,I don't know for sure.Luckily,the others are as right as rain.

Good luck digging it out Gretl,I don't think your girls resp problems were caused by bark though.They would have died with out correct treatment,not recovered.
 
If anyone wants some hard wood bark chippings you are more than welcome from my pile. Just had 3 large oak trees and 6 other large trees felled by tree surgeons, who have left me enough wood chippings and logs to last a life time. Have used some for paths around the vegetable plots, burnt 4 piles but still the pile is as big as mount kilmanjaro. (live in Cheshire)

Regards Sue
 
I bet your hens are busy rooting and scratching in that,looking for grubs,getting grubby,making a mess lol :lol: .
 
Im a bit confused Sue?! Are "hardwood bark chippings " different from the bark chippings in the article ? Are they resistant to the mould ?! CC
 
craftycarrot said:
Im a bit confused Sue?! Are "hardwood bark chippings " different from the bark chippings in the article ? Are they resistant to the mould ?! CC
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Hi
It has no bark from the outside of the tree, so is almost white / yellow in colour.
 
Wow ! In that case Sue Id love some if you have any spare , Im on the wales side of chester , whereabouts in Cheshire are you ? CC
 
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