Building a Woods Coop for DLM in the Shenandoah Valley

[aart]

A true composting DLM is going to be difficult on a wooden floor.
Best do your composting elsewhere.

 

[NutrientDensePermaculture]

That puts me in the mind of something I'd be moving regularly. Is that what you mean? With DLM and a pasture, there doesn't seem to be an advantage to moving the coop. Or am I missing something? I might be.

The design I'm using is technically mobile, since I'm building it on 4x6x12 skids. I'm going to angle the ends of the skids so it can be moved without digging in. But it is so heavy that moving it is unlikely to be practical. The only reason I can think of why I'd do it is either erosion degrading the existing spot, or it turning out to be unsuitable in another way. (I have some fairly tall cedars south of the location, which may result in too little winter sun, for example, but the winters here tend not to be harsh. If I'm wrong, I'll have to move it.)

I'm using three skids, and 2x6 floor joists, and 3/4" plywood for the base, to give you an idea of the weight.

Love your handle, btw.

Hey thanks! I built a few mobile ones and I just love the versatility but if you're sure your placement is future proof you know your land better then anyone for sure!

 

[jthornton]

And if you have not found the Modern Fresh Air Poultry House book by Prince T. Woods it is here cleaned up and made into a PDF.

12" of overhang is a great thing to have for all kinds of weather.

JT

 

[DoozyWombat]

A bunch of people on here have used... uh.... black Jack? to paint the plywood floor. It should completely seal the plywood so you will have zero rot issues even when using DLM.

Looks like you are talking about Black Jack roof and foundation sealant. Looks like pretty good stuff.

I think I'll wait until the PT plywood has had time to dry out before putting that on it, but that sounds like a great idea.

Thanks!

 

[DoozyWombat]

And if you have not found the Modern Fresh Air Poultry House book by Prince T. Woods it is here cleaned up and made into a PDF.

12" of overhang is a great thing to have for all kinds of weather.

I got that earlier from your link, thanks very much! And I'm going to try to have 12" eaves, but I'll have to see how much roofing material I have.

Thanks!

 

[DoozyWombat]

Laying the Skids

This is turning out more challenging than I expected, as I don't have the very flat surface needed to lay out a square framework.

The skids are 12' 4x6s, separated by 6' 4x4s, all ground contact pressure treated. I used a pipe clamp to abut the 4x4 to the top of the 4x6, checked the square, then drilled through the 4x6 and into the 4x4 with a 5/16" long bit, and screwed in 3/8" lag screws.

I've used a small trailer bed to hold each joint relatively flat while I get it clamped and make squaring adjustments.

I'll attach pics.

 

[aart]

Looks like you are talking about Black Jack roof and foundation sealant.

Specifically "Black Jack 57"...Black Jack has many other products that wouldn't work as well, or at all.

This is turning out more challenging than I expected

Typical with projects, eh? Hang in there!
Tho I had one yesterday that went so smoothly,
that I'm still 'looking over my shoulder'

 

[DoozyWombat]

Specifically "Black Jack 57"...Black Jack has many other products that wouldn't work as well, or at all.

Thanks for the correction. Seems like hard stuff to find around here. Found it on Amazon, though.

 

[DoozyWombat]

A true composting DLM is going to be difficult on a wooden floor. Best do your composting elsewhere.

I'll have to research this further. What I'm thinking is to put litter out in early Spring, then continue to add litter through the year, shoveling it all out again in the early Spring and starting over. I expect that means that some of it will have broken down, but not all of it. And I won't be growing worms in there.

But the litter that gets shoveled out will go on the main compost pile beside the garden--also inside the chicken pasture. There, it will get wet, and mix with worms and other goodness. It doesn't have to go in the garden right away.

I figure it's going to take some years to learn how to balance the composting alone.

I'm guessing you are thinking of a dirt floor for a composting DLM? I'd be concerned about intruders in that case.

 

[Kusanar]

While @aart is correct in that it will be quite a bit more difficult to do composting deep litter on a wood floor, it is not impossible. You could even have worms in there eventually if that's what you wanted.

You need to make sure that at least some of it stays moist, you don't want to be able to squeeze moisture out of it but you don't want it dry enough to be dusty either, think wrung out sponge level of moist.

If you have an existing compost pile or old leaf pile somewhere, take some of that and add it into the litter, I wouldn't mix it thinly throughout, I would put it kind of in one place so the microbes are still close to each other and can work together easier, then as the birds kick it around it will spread out slower.

Things like pill bugs are also good in a situation like that, turn over some rotten logs and catch some bugs to add to the litter (not while the chickens are watching, give them a chance to hide).

Also, you don't want to clean it ALL out at once, always leave about 1/4 of the old bedding to start the next batch composting, otherwise you will have to go to all of that work each year.