Fresh wood chips/mulch

[Kayla's Lunch]

I have a few questions.... I currently have pine bark nuggets/mulch from Lowe's, straw, and leaves in my 12 x 12 covered run. I just had a free load of fresh wood chips delivered by a tree service company that was working in the area. It is pretty finely shredded, not what I think of as chips. I've never done this before and am new to raising chickens. Can I put this directly in the run? Should it sit out for some amount of time before going into the run? Can I use it outside of the run in muddy areas of my yard that the chickens frequently scratch around in? Thanks!

 

[aart]

Best to let it sit and age for a couple-few months.
Fresh tree chippings are full of moisture which can feed blooms of all kinds of molds which normally are harmless but in large quantities can be toxic.

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

Thank you!

 

[Ruralhideaway]

I had a load delivered in the late winter. Part of it had sat on the truck for a bit and came off the truck accompanied by a black cloud of mold. I covered them with a pool solar cover about 6 weeks ago but they still smell musty. Going to rewet and give them another month. They don't seem to unmold fast once they are moldy.

A different fresh load that I spread thin(3-6 inches) never molded a bit.

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

These were delivered "fresh off the trees." LOL I have only spread about 1/2 of the truck load in an area of the yard where it can dry out and then be shoveled into the run as needed. Still have to get the rest out of the driveway. So when it gets wet, does it absorb less than the amount of moisture it has fresh?

 

[aart]

I had a load delivered in the late winter. Part of it had sat on the truck for a bit and came off the truck accompanied by a black cloud of mold. I covered them with a pool solar cover about 6 weeks ago but they still smell musty. Going to rewet and give them another month. They don't seem to unmold fast once they are moldy.

A different fresh load that I spread thin(3-6 inches) never molded a bit.

Covering would help the mold grow I would think, they need air and sunshine to kill off the mold. The chips may stay stained from the mold, not sure how to tell if mold is active or not.

 

[aart]

So when it gets wet, does it absorb less than the amount of moisture it has fresh?

Once the wood dries(of it's natural moisture and 'sugars') but it will absorb rain water....not a problem unless copious amounts of mold still viably exist.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Covering would help the mold grow I would think, they need air and sunshine to kill off the mold. The chips may stay stained from the mold, not sure how to tell if mold is active or not.

Huh. I do see that point. I guess I thought I was adding heat to get them to complete a composting process they'd already begun as they were hot as well as moldy. I don't know especially lots about composting though.

 

[SueT]

My husband cuts and processes hardwood trees for wood turning and for firewood. I often put the damp shavings right into the run. In big piles. The chickens do the spreading out and it dries out very quickly, in hours. For inside the coop, I only use dry shavings.

 

[aart]

Huh. I do see that point. I guess I thought I was adding heat to get them to complete a composting process they'd already begun as they were hot as well as moldy. I don't know especially lots about composting though.

Well, that makes sense too. It's hard to know just what to do. The fact that they sat on the truck for while and that appeared to jump start the mold factory...then the stuff you spread out dried and it did not mold(any further) kind of tells the tale of the difference in environments.

My husband cuts and processes hardwood trees for wood turning and for firewood. I often put the damp shavings right into the run. In big piles. The chickens do the spreading out and it dries out very quickly. For inside the coop, I only use dry shavings.

What shavings specifically? From milling, sawing, turning..... or chipping the branches freshly cut from the trees felled?

Ramial wood chippings are the branches from trees trimmed around power lines or other places. The include a lot of bark on which live a multitude of organisms that are usually happily balanced in the natural world, but when you run them thru a chipper, especially with green leaves, and pile them up it can create a petri dish for a toxic overgrowth of molds. This might not always be the case, may depend on other factors, but the chances are rather high.

I suggest aging fresh chippings due to this story, where fresh chippings put in a run killed a flock of birds and the cause of death was determined by poultry experts who tested the birds and the chippings and found a gross over growth of aspergillus molds:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/dying-chickens.1129854/