DEEP LITER METHOD IS GOOD?

[aart]

Wood floor. Thanks for your input. What do you suggest?

Deep bedding is just fine.
How often you need to add more shavings depends on how many birds and if you have a poop board.

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
- Large flake pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.
That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 8 years.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

...and for comparison, I add a few inches of deep bedding in my raised coop about once a quarter (7-8 overflowing gorilla cart loads, which is on the order of 50-60 cu ft - it settles pretty quickly since mine is all leaves and twigs) for roughly 80 sq ft of surface area), and i extract a few inches of composted soil from beneath the deep litter under the coop about once a year, generally taking half in fall and half in spring for my gardens.

 

[3KillerBs]

Here's my article on Deep Bedding: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

It includes an explanation of the difference between Deep Bedding and Deep Litter.

I have Deep Litter in my big coop, which has a dirt floor, and after 11 months its odor-free and not ready yet to change the litter.

 

[NatJ]

Anyone have experience with deep liter method?...Am I doing it right?

If it works for you, then what you are doing is right.

You certainly have deep something. But some people like to use separate terms ("deep litter" and "deep bedding") depending on whether it's moist enough to actively compost, or whether it's dry like yours.

Either one can work well, so it's just a matter of which one suits your conditions.

 

[Browniethechicken]

Here's my article on Deep Bedding: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

It includes an explanation of the difference between Deep Bedding and Deep Litter.

I have Deep Litter in my big coop, which has a dirt floor, and after 11 months its odor-free and not ready yet to change the litter.

Thank you I’ll read it

 

[Browniethechicken]

Excellent read and very helpful

 

[Browniethechicken]

If it works for you, then what you are doing is right.

You certainly have deep something. But some people like to use separate terms ("deep litter" and "deep bedding") depending on whether it's moist enough to actively compost, or whether it's dry like yours.

Either one can work well, so it's just a matter of which one suits your conditions.

Ha! Thanks for the encouragement! I got deep
Something…. Im
Going with that!!

 

[Browniethechicken]

Deep Litter works best in contact with the ground, so that beneficial microbes can move up thru the pile to aid decomposition. It also helps maintain appropriate moisture levels. Under typical circumstances, you can't deep litter in a raised coop, or one with wooden/concrete/linoleum floors - "deep bedding" is as close as it gets.

Note how I use deep bedding in my raised coop, then move it down to the ground (no floor) to become deep litter under the ducks.

In theory, I could deep litter in the raised coop because I use concreteboard as flooring - I could shovel several inches of good dirt from my soils, complete with bacteria, worms, and all the rest in the top soil, then pile on the leaf litter another 6-8", and as long as the moisture levels stayed good, the process could operate as intended. But that's (potentially) a lot of weight, its definitely a lot of trapped moisture, and it will definitely accelerate the decay of anything its in contact with. Concrete board is better than lumber for that purpose, but it has limits. That's why I don't practice that theory.

Thank you!! Sounds like deep bedding is what is working for me

 

[danrabbit]

Here's my article on Deep Bedding: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

It includes an explanation of the difference between Deep Bedding and Deep Litter.

I have Deep Litter in my big coop, which has a dirt floor, and after 11 months its odor-free and not ready yet to change the litter.

Do you have a deep dive article on deep litter? I loved this one on bedding

 

[3KillerBs]

Do you have a deep dive article on deep litter? I loved this one on bedding

I'm working on that, but haven't harvested my first deep litter from the open air coop yet.