Testimonials
23rd Sep 2009
Hi Alison
New enclosure all finished and rubber chippings all done. Looks fab. The hens love the chippings when its warm as they seem to hold the heat. They are positively sunbathing!
Many thanks
Kathryn Gale, Sutton-at Hone
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will the chickens eat the rubber chippings?
Answer: No, the chippings are solid rubber and of no interest to the chickens to eat. They will scratch through them for lost bits of food, but they won't eat the rubber chippings themselves.
2. Is there wire in the rubber chippings?
Answer: No, the wire is extracted during the chipping process. We bag the rubber chippings ourselves by hand and see the chippings as they go in, so know they are wire free.
3. Are your rubber chippings the same as the Dunweedin ones?
Answer: Not at all. We buy the rubber chippings in bulk direct from a processing plant and bag them into 10kg bags ourselves. Our rubber chippings are the natural black rubber and are not dyed like the Dunweedin ones.
4. We have heard that chickens eat the string in the rubber chippings and also get their feet caught in the string.
Answer: Our rubber chippings are 25mm blocks of solid rubber with the string that made up the tyres embedded in it. The blocks are so small that the chicken could not get hold of the string because if it pecked at the small rubber block it would bounce away. To get the string out the chicken would need to hold the block with its food, take hold of a barely visible end of string and pull. This is simply not possible. The same goes for getting their feet caught in the string.
There is however, a rubber chipping bark made by Dunweedin which is long strips of rubber tyre as opposed to small rubber cubes. These long strips do have exposed string and are not recommended for chickens.
The two should not be confused. Our rubber chippings are nothing like the Dunweedin rubber bark.
5. Will the rubber chippings get smelly after a while?
Answer: The rubber chippings have a distinct rubber tyre smell when they are first put down, but that lasts less than a day. After that there is the question of becoming smelly because of the chicken poo in the pen. Some feel that it may be a chore hosing the pen off regularly, but whatever the floor surface of the pen the amount of chicken poo will be the same and, if left untreated, the smell will be the same. The smell, if there is one, is down to maintenance, not the rubber chippings. In terms of maintenance, hosing the pen off regularly is a lot easier than cleaning out wood chippings which have become unhygienic and/or slimy or clearing out dirty straw.
6. Why are rubber chippings better than wood chip or wood bark?
Answer: Because wood is porous and so allows the poo to penetrate it. Being porous also allows it to absorb water and so the wood chips become slimy in the event of being too wet for too long. The rubber chippings are made of solid rubber and so cannot absorb anything, thus making them much more hygienic.
7. Why are rubber chippings more environmentally friendly?
Answer: Because the rubber chippings are a one off investment because if you look after them they will last for ever. You have saved the landfill from regular deliveries of wood and bark chips that have got unhygienic and slimy. Ruber chippings therefore have a double envirnmental benefit.