Deep litter method help

[bantamboy]

Could somebody please help me out and give some details on the deep litter method I'm not quite sure how it works

 

[fleedo]

all it is is when you put a lot of wood shavings down and let them rot or decompose

 

[fleedo]

p.s it keeps chickens warm

 

[SMonroe1990]

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/10/the-deep-litter-method-of-waste.html

Here is a wonderful link for you. I personally use the deep litter method and I love it. It fits better into my lifestyle. I don't have to try to figure out when I have time to clean my coop out once a week, just add a little more shavings when I start noticing a smell. I rake around all the other bedding before adding the clean shavings.

 

[Brucepierce]

I put about 8 inches of new pine chips in my coop in April I turn them over with a shovel maybe weekly, during the summer I'll add a bag or two of my grass clippings and that's it until April when I do a full clean out and start over...simple

 

[EagleEyes]

What do the grass clippings do? Seems to me that they would rot/decompose and start turning the coop into a compost pile.
Just wondering as I'm new to all of this but do use the deep liter method.
I'm two weeks into having 7 chickens and rake my shavings over every couple of days.
I'm thinking that I'll add a bag of shavings every once and a while to keep it going.

 

[SMonroe1990]

What do the grass clippings do? Seems to me that they would rot/decompose and start turning the coop into a compost pile.
Just wondering as I'm new to all of this but do use the deep liter method.
I'm two weeks into having 7 chickens and rake my shavings over every couple of days.
I'm thinking that I'll add a bag of shavings every once and a while to keep it going.

the whole point of deep litter is to turn it into a compost that can be used in your garden and such. It's why generally when doing it you put down stuff that decomposes easily. You start it in spring/summer so by winter when the weather is cold the litter is providing a bit of heat for your chickens. you don't change the bedding at all while doing this and DE kills the microbes you need for the deep litter method to work. You can either toss scratch down for your chickens to turn the bedding for you or get a rake and do it yourself. By the next spring you clean your coop out all the way and start over again.

 

[CrazyTalk]

DE doesn't kill microbes. It kills bugs by cutting/desiccating them. It does physical damage to them - its too big to harm microbes.

 

[EagleEyes]

Thanks for the reply. When I first saw about the deep liter method, I didn't catch that it was composting and that is what helped keep the chickens warm in the winter. Now it makes perfect sense. I'm going to get some scratch, and toss it under the roost and see if they will do my job of turning over the liter. No doubt I'll help with this operation from time to time.