Wood chips for run

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Lucylou

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Looking at buying some wood chips for the run now that its getting very slushy with winter weather. Have seen various things available online but don't quite know which to go for. The last lot came from a tree we had lopped in the garden so didn't have to find any.

I know they have to be hardwood but there seems to be so much available, anyone enlighten me please? Anyone bought any?

Ta x
 
We have a large woodchip area around our static sheds and use woodchip from here:

http://www.fountaintimber.co.uk/barks-mulches-compost/by-the-bag/timber-chips.html


Twice a year this area gets dug out and is used as a mulch spring and autumn on our fruit trees and borders. The wood chip under the shelters stays fresh a lot longer, and if I leave a feeder out and the food gets wet is gets a bit yucky!
 
I have bought hardwood chips from www.flytesofancy.co.uk and also www.mjgiddings.co.uk They are both more or less the same, but with the first one you can buy it by the bag, but you have to pay carriage and with the second you have to buy a minimum of 10 bags, but carriage is free, so this works out cheaper if you need to buy larger quantities. One warning, if you buy in bulk don't buy more than you need thinking you can store it until you need it, because it comes in plastic bags and the wood chips go mouldy if kept in them as they are wet when they arrive. If you have somewhere that you can tip it out of the bags to store it, it would be ok though.
 
Ours came free from a tree surgeon indirectly. Appears to be chipped up conifer. We must have had 40 big bags (could only just lift them) in total, which we filled from a large pile. They went on an area 7 metres x 10 metres and after a year have pretty much rotted down. I think the chicken poo plus rain speeds the rotting process as, like Foxy, the stuff under the shelters has lasted much longer. Once in plastic bags it starts to rot quickly, so if storing I would leave it under an open lean-to unbagged as Sue says.
 
i used woodchips for the run but i didnt really notice how deep i had gone with them until i dug some over and noticed mould under neath them this freaked me out so i took the whole lot out and went back to bare soil . but tomorrow i will start laying down weed control membrane in the extension for when the wood chips come in tuesday as the little banties are getting very large mud balls on thier feet and its annoying them so they are coming of the soil completely , their area isnt that large so i am hoping 2 rolls of membrane should be enough as its only about a 1 1/2 metre wide by 33 ft long and about 6 wheel barrow loads of chips shoul;d last them a long time although today i did look into rubber flooring but thats pretty pricey .
 
I use woodchip in my covered run. It lasts ages. It is however becoming increasingly more difficult to source from local tree surgeons. Had a quote recently of £50 a load! In the past our allotments have been inundated with it and tenants used it on their plots for paths as well as chicken runs. Mine needs replacing now and I am struggling to find a reasonable supplier.
 
thats taking the mickey . i can get £10 , £20 or £30 loads or get it for free { dodgy stuff } but 50 quid no way where abouts are you ? i am tempted to pop into homebase tomorw to pick up 2 small bags just so that the banties wont be on membrane only although they do have wooden sleepers to walk on and i will be adding slabs to hold down the membrane anyway .
 
Thanks Karminski, I am in Hertfordshire. I am following up another source via my brother at the moment.
Also, last night a fellow henkeeper on the allotments left 1/2 a bale of 'Allbird Poultry Litter' in my greenhouse. It is fine dust free woodchippings and looks ok.Has anyone on the forum used this?
With regards to the quoted price of £50 I think they thought this was a opportunity to make a quick buck! In past years, we too, have been able to get chippings free. They were glad to get rid of them.
 
On the membrane--There is a type called Mipex that is long lasting and durable in the garden and is generally the one that Horticulture uses. Problem is that it is Plastic and the way it is weaved can lead to Fraying round the edges where it is not secured. Normal way of laying it is to Trench the edge up against a board so that the final 3 to 4" of it is vertical in the ground. "Special" Pegs can be bought to secure it but I use cheap wire tent pegs and this will hold it secure. Peg around the edge and about every 5 to 6ft in the middle. It is fairly robust and durable but I do not know how it would stand up to Hens scratching around and trying to dig into it.

On the woodchip--I do not have a large garden but I do have a Garden shreddder. Any wood prunings get stored till there is enough to shred and I have more than enough to keep the paths well covered each year.
 
i am not using that membrane i am using the fabric weed control one that does not fray at the edges , i have used the other one before on the allotments and the frayed bits that come of over time do my head it :lol: so i wont ever use that again .
 
i have done the bantams side of the run and the weekend i am hoping to lay the membrane down in the quantine area then chip that but i am wandering {although membrane wise it will work out expense } would it be ok to do the large area of the run which is 25ft by 28 ft i think might be more cant remember .as said before i have done chips on its own but the mould worries me and i dont really fancy digging it all out every 6 months or so the last time i done it it nearly killed me .
what size areas have any of you membraned?
 
Mine is 4metres by 3 metres and I used the wide kind of membrane, 2 metres wide along the length with plenty of overlap in the middle and sides. It's been down 2 years now still going strong. I would imagine you'd still have to replace the woodchip every so often as it will eventually get dirty from above, ie some poo will be deposited even if you do pick up as much as you can. But it won't be as bad as if it's also got mud dug in from below.
Where did you get the non-fray kind of membrane from? I looked everywhere but couldn't find it. The sort which frays at the edges doesn't do it if you hem the cut edge on a sewing machine before you use it. I used lots of big sheets of it on my allotment for years and it survived really hard wear.
 
you can get the fabric weed conrtol one from anywhere its about £10.99 a roll but i cant remeber how many metres it is per roll ,i know harrods sell the stuff by the metre .http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/product/garden%20netting_ground%20cover%20and%20mulching%20fabrics/GDN-516.htm
 
I had the idea of buying a chipper to produce our own woodchip. Thinking about 10-12 HP. But I have looked into it in more detail. You can get a 12HP machine suitable for branches to 3" for about £650 inclusive. BUT it only produces chippings about the size of chainsaw shavings. Onviously these are no good as they will rot down in weeks. To get bigger chips you need a much bigger machine. About 30 HP would do it -oh, and £3000 !
So we will carry on buying it then.
 
yep cheaper to keep buying i reckon :lol: i still got to get mine into the run but now its raining even more i think i will leave it tell i am of over christmas got 11 days to fit in all in.
 
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