Wood/bark chippings for my covered run?

[d000hg]

Our 7 birds have an enclosed run on bare soil made of small-hole chicken wire.
We want to dig out the run next time we clean it out and lay wire mesh on the floor to stop rats tunnelling in, but I want this covered so you can dig out without catching the wire on the spade every time, and so the birds can still scratch around.
I was thinking it might be a good time to replace the soil with chippings so the birds can still dig about but also keep it a bit cleaner than earth.

A big dumpy bag looks like it'll give about 10cm depth, but you can get bark chippings, softwood chippings, hardwood chippings, mulch grade, play grade, .... do the birds care at all what we use?

[mothhawk]

Well, not bark chippings because they absorb water, so will get soggy and wet. Not anything with recycled wood waste in - you don't know what the wood may have been treated with. Not softwood which will compost down fairly fast into the soil.

I would say the best would be hardwood chippings.

[Snadger]

Stay clear of any chippings with Yew in the mix. Its poisonous to man and beast.

[nick the grief]

when I used to keep chooks at home I had two runs. the first was a covered one that was next to the house and this was just old bricks ( we had 100's in the garden where they'd knoed down old privvies and the like) laid onto sand this gave good drainage from water spills etc and I used to pu about 1/2 a bale of straw on this then top it up later on and end of the year clear it out and start again. then off that we had the proper run so if the weather was really bad I could isolate them from the mud bath and let it get a rest.