Garden Mulch

[TONYPUENTE]

This post is for garden mulch.

What suggestion do you have for garden mulch for chickens?

I have been using your typical wood mulch and my hens tear through it. I have read that rubber mulch is dangerous because some hens will eat it. Thoughts?

 

[DobieLover]

Does your town or nearby towns collect curbside branches during the spring? If so, you more than likely have a free source of wood chips available at the highway department where they take them to shred them then leave them in huge piles for taxpayers to take.

 

[paintedChix]

Mulch - as Dobie lover stated.

Garden mulch from your garden. Anything they can eat & scratch about. I've not had issues w/ poisonous plants, but they have access to feed 24/7 & generally get healthy veggies & fruits.

I have planted chicken gardens that are just for the chickens. Garden plants that produce lots of biomass - banana trees, hosta, comfrey, rhubarb ( I can't never remember which parts of which varieties are ok), collards, mustards, beets (mangos are huge w/ lots of greens).

Grasses, wheat, oats, alfalfa, clover & wildflowers cut w/ scythe, push mower or riding mower. Leaves, leaves & more leaves (they break down fast). Hay, straw, pinestraw - they work better if can chop or shred them. I often put some down when mowing & mow right through & over it. We are going to need to get a chipper to run the huge hollow stalks of wild dog fennel through. I've even found that the stalks from ornamental grasses work great. Our 2 plants, planted before we moved in, now grow about 10' tall. Can just prune out the brown stalks or can cut at desired level above ground...

Shredded paper & paper products. I brought home paper from work to shred. Bills & junk mail w/ plastic windows removed. Cardboard - Amazon & Chewy. Like leaves, shredded paper products break down fast..