Deep litter method

[Beekissed]

I could turn the fan on, it's cooler here today so it's off. I'm thinking the soil when it mixes with the sand and straw won't stay so "fresh" smelling

Yep...neither of those elements are known for helping get rid of odors as they both tend to hold them. I'd leave the sand out of future additions to DL...not many beneficial bugs like to live in sharp sand particles.

 

[Beekissed]

I recently had some large trees pruned. The tree guys left me with a giant pile of mesquite wood chips and I was gleefully planning to use the chips in the coops. Three days later I went to get a wheelbarrow full for one of the coops. Stuck the shovel into the pile and... smoke? Tried it again in another spot and got the same result. It sure looked like smoke coming up but it wasn't. Turns out the whole pile of chips had molded and every time I stuck a shovel into the pile it kicked up a cloud of mold spores. Yuck!

It doesn't seem like a good idea to use moldy wood chips in the coops. Now I have a giant pile of moldy wood chips and I'm not sure what to do with them other than let them compost in place and use them around the yard afterward. That could take a long time. Any ideas, insight, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Once you spread those out, you won't see that visual level of mold going on. That's common and it's the mold that moves in first to start the composting process...you are seeing it in large quantities in that pile because there is no air in there and it's very hot and moist...perfect conditions for mold production. If you have adequate ventilation and your DL isn't sopping wet or smoking hot all the time, the mold should be no bother. Fresh air takes care of a lot of problems, particularly in DL....can't say it enough or loud enough, OPEN UP THOSE COOPS.

I used the exact same thing in my coop this year and it's been wonderful! From now on, wood chips are going to be a huge part of my DL.

If yours still makes you nervous, just spread it out on a tarp and let the fresh air and sun take care of those mold spores. If you are doing true composting DL, you will find you have those mold spores in your DL aplenty anyway, so it's like gagging on a gnat and then swallowing a mule to worry about mold levels in the coop...there are beneficial molds and yeasts and then there are the harmful ones. The well managed, composting DL has the beneficial ones...what's going on in your chip pile are also the beneficial ones and these won't cause a problem if you have good cross ventilation in your coop and run.

 

[goodb]

I recently had some large trees pruned. The tree guys left me with a giant pile of mesquite wood chips and I was gleefully planning to use the chips in the coops. Three days later I went to get a wheelbarrow full for one of the coops. Stuck the shovel into the pile and... smoke? Tried it again in another spot and got the same result. It sure looked like smoke coming up but it wasn't. Turns out the whole pile of chips had molded and every time I stuck a shovel into the pile it kicked up a cloud of mold spores. Yuck!

It doesn't seem like a good idea to use moldy wood chips in the coops. Now I have a giant pile of moldy wood chips and I'm not sure what to do with them other than let them compost in place and use them around the yard afterward. That could take a long time. Any ideas, insight, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

That's not mold. It's the beginning of the compost process as Beekissed mentioned. I've been collecting fresh woodchips for about 4 years and that always happens. Unless something is peculiar about Mesquite, what you describe seeing is the steam and byproduct of the carbon material breaking down from the nitrogen the leaves provide. If you place your hand near the pile you should feel a lot of heat. Measured, it should be around 160f. It may even smell nice. Again, unless there is something odd about Mesquite, you are safe. If it concerns you, let the pile sit for about 2 weeks then turn it so the outside becomes the inside and do it again in another 1-2 weeks. If not, you are totally fine with mixing it into your deep litter.

 

[PapaChaz]

I recently had some large trees pruned. The tree guys left me with a giant pile of mesquite wood chips and I was gleefully planning to use the chips in the coops. Three days later I went to get a wheelbarrow full for one of the coops. Stuck the shovel into the pile and... smoke? Tried it again in another spot and got the same result. It sure looked like smoke coming up but it wasn't. Turns out the whole pile of chips had molded and every time I stuck a shovel into the pile it kicked up a cloud of mold spores. Yuck!

It doesn't seem like a good idea to use moldy wood chips in the coops. Now I have a giant pile of moldy wood chips and I'm not sure what to do with them other than let them compost in place and use them around the yard afterward. That could take a long time. Any ideas, insight, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Did you notice the heat when you dug into it? it's steam from the heat of decomposing, once you spread them out into thinner layers, decompsing will slow down and it won't be a problem.

I put over 6" of wood chips out of the huge pile a local tree service gives away in my run and haven't had any problems with it at all. Man, talk about seeing the heat rise when the bobcat driver would dig in to load my trailer!

 

[MagicChicken]

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Actually, it IS mold. There is no heat. There is a dusty gray-green coating all over everything below the surface. I stuck my hand in there when it happened and the pile innards were cooler than the outside temperature. Nowhere near composting, steam-generating temperatures - with which I am quite familiar, having had several compost piles that I had to monitor carefully because they got so hot I was concerned about spontaneous combustion. Yup, mold for sure, generating lots of spores.

We got a big rain a few hours after the tree trimmers were done chipping the prunings. The pile got soaked. A couple of days after that I found the mold. I will follow Beekissed's advice and spread the chips in the drier parts of the chicken coops/runs. This is our rainy season but it looks like we're in for drier weather for a week or so. If I spread it now the stuff should be dry in a couple of days.

 

[PapaChaz]

Actually, it IS mold. There is no heat. There is a dusty gray-green coating all over everything below the surface. I stuck my hand in there when it happened and the pile innards were cooler than the outside temperature. Nowhere near composting, steam-generating temperatures - with which I am quite familiar, having had several compost piles that I had to monitor carefully because they got so hot I was concerned about spontaneous combustion. Yup, mold for sure, generating lots of spores.

We got a big rain a few hours after the tree trimmers were done chipping the prunings. The pile got soaked. A couple of days after that I found the mold. I will follow Beekissed's advice and spread the chips in the drier parts of the chicken coops/runs. This is our rainy season but it looks like we're in for drier weather for a week or so. If I spread it now the stuff should be dry in a couple of days.

LOL ok whatever you say. but I ain't buying no heat in a pile of anything organic that's been piled up, even if for just a couple of days. I cut grass monday, raked it into piles monday and tuesday, spent tuesday loading it into my dump carry all on the back of my tractor, and just over night there was already heat building in it. And by tuesday evening when the chickens went to roost and I put it in the run, it was hot to the touch just from being piled in the dump cart all day.

I'm not saying not possible to have some mold in it, and no where in the post you quoted DID I say it wasn't mold.......but that's been pretty well explained by beekissed, the decomposition process has begun. Your chickens, your run, your wood chips, do as you like, but you did come on here asking about it. If I was worried about mold, I'd follow her advice, which was to spread it out on tarps, I didn't read anywhere in her post to put it in the drier parts of the run??? I think she meant for your peace of mind, spread it out on tarps and let the sun kill the mold before you put it in there........

 

[pepparaaraa]

This has probably been asked a hundred times, but can you deep litter a run... In England? Clearly not the driest part of the world? Would it just mean putting a roof on the run or would that not be enough?

 

[MagicChicken]

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Yes, I came here asking about it. Beekissed gave me a knowledgeable response and did not dispute the veracity of the facts as I stated them. There is a reason people listen to her.

 

[PapaChaz]

This has probably been asked a hundred times, but can you deep litter a run... In England? Clearly not the driest part of the world? Would it just mean putting a roof on the run or would that not be enough?

don't see why you couldn't, do you have a problem with water flowing into your run, other than rain from above?

I didn't realize I'd have a problem with water standing in this spot in my yard where I put mine until it rained for a solid week. I trenched around it to drain any standing water (at that time and future) and built up the floor of my run with around 6" of wood chips that had been composting in a huge pile. Since then, I've added other layers, grass clippings, all the vegetable waste from the garden and flower beds, more wood chips from a different tree trimming company, etc etc........I do have part of my run covered with landscape cloth. Thtat's not water proof though it does slow the rain down some.

I'm sure I don't get any where near the amounts of rain you do there, but I wouldn't see why you couldn't do it, esp if you make sure you keep most of the water out. You want and need some moisture to aid the composting process, but you wouldn't want it to be soaking wet all the time

 

[Beekissed]

I've really been adding more things to my DL than I ever have in previous years...stuff that I used to just throw out on the ground at the edge of the woods and let the birds pick through, I'm now placing in the litter. Anything they don't eat will get covered with litter and the bugs and worms will turn to compost. I try not to place food scraps right on manure so they aren't having to eat food out of their own feces, so usually I'll cover the night's droppings well with litter before placing the garden scraps in that area.

The day after placing scraps, I usually cover those with litter along with the night's offerings....that way the worms can feel free to start eating the scraps and can do it under cover. I have been doing this all spring now and you wouldn't believe how many things have been consumed by the DL....completely digested! Onions, potato peelings and other things the birds won't eat are being turned to compost under the DL and there's no smell whatsoever during this process. It's really a neat thing to be building compost right in the chicken coop.