Why a chicken coop and run should have a floor of wood chips
Many of my friends and family keep chickens so I’ve seen lots of chicken coops and runs throughout Southern California. Every set up I’ve seen with a floor of wood chips is better than those I’ve seen without, with very few exceptions.
The first reason is to soak up the manure. Chickens pee and poop at the same time, they do so throughout the day, and they do so throughout the night while they’re sleeping. It adds up fast.
If it’s not cleaned up fast, it stinks to high heaven. That’s no fun for us when we visit the birds, but think about them. They breathe that toxic air 24/7. The harsh ammonia gas injures their respiratory pathway tissues, reduces their growth, makes them susceptible to diseases, makes them less productive at laying eggs, damages their eyes, and all sorts of other nasty things. (See this paper and this paper for more on the effects of ammonia on chickens.)
So primarily it is for the health of the chickens that I keep a thick layer of wood chips on the floor of my coop and run. My rule is that I should be able to stand right inside and close my eyes and not even know there are chickens around because I can’t smell anything unpleasant. The wood chips, if kept thick enough, accomplish that.
