I use cow manure and i spread it thin on concrete until it dryes verry well then it pass it through a sieve.After that its good to use as potting mix .If it dryed then it contains verry little nitrogen and its to weak to be used as a fertiliser.
When i use cow manure as fertiliser i use verry fresh manure ,preferably before the dung beetles started to get in it.50/50 water and fresh manure mix,then i speead about 2-3 litters of it every 2 weeks around my younger trees.It is still weak in nitrogen and verry safe to use.
Wood chips i would only use them as mulch because they have zero nitrogen and until they become black soil,they draw nitrogen from the surroundings .I would only use a thin layer of wood chips as mulch because if i fed nitrogen to the tree on a thick bed of mulch,then a lot of that nitrogen will not even reach the tree because it will be used by bacteria and fungi to decompose the wood chips.