Deep litter method

[iwanaplae2]

I'm being told that I can deep litter method in my tiny 3' by 3' coop that houses three 8lb birds.

I tried this several times but after just a few weeks, I can't possibly add any more shavings to absorb the tennis ball sized "bombs" the hens drop at night.  And I can't build up more than a few inches or they wouldn't be able to get out the pop door.

I was told that coop is not well ventilated enough.  Well, if I leave open all the vents and doors, then they'd have no protection from the wind and rain as the roost bar is right at the high of all the vents and windows.

I really don't care to deep litter method.  I signed up to clean out my coop every week or two when I signed up to get chickens.

I'm just frustrated at the information or lack there of that is out there and when someone tells me something like this and then doesn't explain how on earth I'm supposed to do it.

What are your thoughts?  Can one really deep litter method in a tiny coop like mine?

I think it would be helpful to see pics of your coop.Perhaps someone with more experience than I could offer good advice. And you are right. A lot of people push the dL method, without taking into consideration that not all coops are the same. Some are just not designed to handle deep litter. I understand the pop door issue. I have the same problem. We have a much larger coop and the girls kick a certain amount out through out the day. But that was our design fault. So I just deal with it.
Good luck

 

[Beekissed]

I agree. A dollhouse coop is not optimal for a DL system, though it could benefit from it...every coop could benefit from a DL, in theory. I think most who want the benefits of DL~which are much more than just not having to clean out a coop..that's just one benefit~make adaptations to their coop to accommodate it or expand their coops altogether. A 3x3 coop isn't big enough for 3 large fowl chickens in the first place and still maintain a healthy living environment for the long run, so you might consider that expansion anyway. The air quality in a coop that small with that many birds is going to be poor whether you use DL or not.

 

[iwanaplae2]

I agree.  A dollhouse coop is not optimal for a DL system, though it could benefit from it...every coop could benefit from a DL, in theory.  I think most who want the benefits of DL~which are much more than just not having to clean out a coop..that's just one benefit~make adaptations to their coop to accommodate it or expand their coops altogether.  A 3x3 coop isn't big enough for 3 large fowl chickens in the first place and still maintain a healthy living environment for the long run, so you might consider that expansion anyway.  The air quality in a coop that small with that many birds is going to be poor whether you use DL or not. 

Agreed.

 

[appps]

I've been wa to ask this and this seems the perfect spot.

Been using shaving but when I eventually pull it out to replace shavings aren't the greatest thing to have a heap of in my compost bin as they take so long to rot down.

What I was wondering was would something like the finely chopped up Lucerne hay work instead or as well as the shavings as the mix of that and chook poop should be a more welcome addition to the compost?

I don't think just straw would work as its harder to turn but wondered about the Lucerne hay as it seems to come in a fairly finely chopped compressed bale.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

If hay gets wet, it will mat down and turn into a slimy mess.
If you want to speed up the composting, add some Nitrogen to the pile

 

[Beekissed]

I've been wa to ask this and this seems the perfect spot.

Been using shaving but when I eventually pull it out to replace shavings aren't the greatest thing to have a heap of in my compost bin as they take so long to rot down.

What I was wondering was would something like the finely chopped up Lucerne hay work instead or as well as the shavings as the mix of that and chook poop should be a more welcome addition to the compost?

I don't think just straw would work as its harder to turn but wondered about the Lucerne hay as it seems to come in a fairly finely chopped compressed bale.

As Bear said, it's a moist addition to the bedding so not the best if used in larger quantities and in a coop that doesn't need moisture. The bedding needs enough nitrogen to bind with the carbonaceous bedding, so you might not be letting it absorb enough fecal matter to do that.

The question would be, why are you pulling out your litter while it's still at the level that it takes a long time to compost? Most using true DL don't pull out any litter until it's composted enough to use directly on the garden~this they take off the bottom levels and place the top levels back where they found them, which then becomes the bottom levels....has a mulch or soil smell, look and consistency at that point. I don't even pull mine out...it just degrades right back into the soil of the coop and looks pretty much like soil at the final stage. I use a mix of shavings, leaves, pine needles etc but my litter pack never really gets deep as you'd think it should after all the materials I throw in there...it just turns back to soil.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

The coop in question is the one on the right w/ the red roof. Yes, it's small. But it worked for the three hens. I'm in California and our winters are very mild so they only went in to sleep and lay eggs. It has three nest boxes and a 3' long roost. And I would go out every morning and use a kitty litter scoop to pull out the larger droppings. So the coop was basically cleaned EVERY day.

I did try the deep litter method twice but could only get to about a month before I just couldn't stand it in there. It didn't smell. But there was just too much in the way of droppings for it to really get started composting.

I've since upgraded them to the larger 4' by 4' on the left and now use a poop hammock. I can easily dump the contents into the compost bin ever few days and the coop stays clean.

I'm just really upset that someone told me I wasn't doing the deep litter method right and that you could do it in ANY coop large or small. And that I didn't have enough ventilation on my coop for my chickens. There's a big vent the length of the coop along the back and the pop door stays open at all times. (Coop sits inside a predator proof run so they are protected that way.) If I add any more ventilation, they'd be sitting in the breeze at night.

So I wanted to reach out to a more knowledgeable group of people and ask if you honestly thought that you could deep litter method in that 3' by 3' coop and only clean it out twice a year?

 

[Beekissed]

Since the coop is a miniature coop, one would have to have miniature shavings...sawdust..and miniature birds, like quail, to make that coop work with that level of ventilation and still mimic the DL in a regular sized coop. Placing standard sized birds in a miniature coop with standard sized bedding would create a problem, no doubt. You could, however, gain benefit from doing deep litter in your run and it would increase the health benefits of your flock...so tossing the manure out into the run to mix there with DL would be a great way to compost in place and it would give your birds a healthier footing and soils on which to live.

When someone tells you that you can't keep birds in a coop that small for the long term that's pretty much what they mean...you might not have problems there for one season, but give it time and the problems will arise. Especially in a warm climate like CA. Poor air quality while the birds are roosting is a good way to get some sick birds down the road. It's good that you moved them to a more size appropriate space with more head room on the coop.

I wouldn't worry about doing any DL in dollhouse coops.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Since the coop is a miniature coop, one would have to have miniature shavings...sawdust..and miniature birds, like quail, to make that coop work with that level of ventilation and still mimic the DL in a regular sized coop. Placing standard sized birds in a miniature coop with standard sized bedding would create a problem, no doubt. You could, however, gain benefit from doing deep litter in your run and it would increase the health benefits of your flock...so tossing the manure out into the run to mix there with DL would be a great way to compost in place and it would give your birds a healthier footing and soils on which to live.

When someone tells you that you can't keep birds in a coop that small for the long term that's pretty much what they mean...you might not have problems there for one season, but give it time and the problems will arise. Especially in a warm climate like CA. Poor air quality while the birds are roosting is a good way to get some sick birds down the road. It's good that you moved them to a more size appropriate space with more head room on the coop.

I wouldn't worry about doing any DL in dollhouse coops.

Thanks. I left the little coop in the run because it was just so adorable that I couldn't part with it. I figured I could use it as a broody/maternity ward in the spring. I want to add two more chicks to my flock of 4. And for some reason, the hens all still want to lay their eggs in there. I did put up nest box curtains. And they really do seem to like the privacy they offer. So if they want to lay their eggs in there and sleep in the big coop, I'm coop with that.

Their run has a decent layer of rice hulls, pine shavings, leaves and I toss out spinach leaves and carrot tops for them to work at during the day. Being in the suburbs I'm always mindful of flies and rodents so I do go through there once a day and scoop up the larger droppings and toss those into the compost bin. Been doing that for three years now and it keeps the run tidy and I've been happy with that method so I think I'll stick w/ that. I do let them out for about an hour each day into the big flower garden and I don't clean up after them out there. That's just free fertilizer.

 

[lawatt]

Since the coop is a miniature coop, one would have to have miniature shavings...sawdust..and miniature birds, like quail, to make that coop work with that level of ventilation and still mimic the DL in a regular sized coop. Placing standard sized birds in a miniature coop with standard sized bedding would create a problem, no doubt. You could, however, gain benefit from doing deep litter in your run and it would increase the health benefits of your flock...so tossing the manure out into the run to mix there with DL would be a great way to compost in place and it would give your birds a healthier footing and soils on which to live.

When someone tells you that you can't keep birds in a coop that small for the long term that's pretty much what they mean...you might not have problems there for one season, but give it time and the problems will arise. Especially in a warm climate like CA. Poor air quality while the birds are roosting is a good way to get some sick birds down the road. It's good that you moved them to a more size appropriate space with more head room on the coop.

I wouldn't worry about doing any DL in dollhouse coops.

this is essentially my approach, although the henhouses my chickens spend their nights in are not quite as small -- but, for instance, in my original coop, the run is 8'x12', and the henhouse is enclosed inside it, 8'x4' -- i use shavings as bedding inside the henhouse, and when things are looking dirty, i sweep the whole bedding+poop out into the floor of the run, which is deep litter and full open to the elements (hardware cloth keeps everyone safe from predators). has been working just fine for over a year -- and i'm in the Bay Area, too! here's a picture of my newest coop add-on (two smaller pens for breeding) that use the same basic model: