Deep litter method

[kekstrom]

Are any of you using DL in a are with no roof? Or are your runs under a roof to protect from precipitation? And then anyone living where you get harsh winters? We have harsh winters with lots of snow and I am excited about the heating factor, but during those months (November-March) the natural materials are limited... So I should probably plan on buying bedding during those times? Or use hay?

 

[microchick]

My run is 90% open and netted kennel panel constructed. 10% under Our barn roof to give the birds protection from the elements and yes, we can have some pretty harsh winters in Missouri.

What prompted me to start moving my litter from coop to run floor was watching our hens and roosters during the winter when they ventured out into the run on a cold day. They would do their scratch and peck thing for awhile and then stop, balance on one leg and pull the other leg up into their belly feathers to warm it with the other foot either in water or snow. I didn't like that at all for them so I started moving the litter from the coop to the run where I spread it evenly. After that, it was all up to the chickens and as I said, they had a ball with it. Best of all, it gave their feet protection over the coldest part of the winter, namely January for us.

If you have a wooded area on your property or nearby, leaves are always available on the forest floor. We have a lot of timber on our farm and in some places the leaves are 10 inches deep and ready starting to decompose on top of the ground. Lot's of work, yep, but free if you can find it and are willing to harvest it out of the woods.

 

[Molpet]

Are any of you using DL in a are with no roof? Or are your runs under a roof to protect from precipitation? And then anyone living where you get harsh winters? We have harsh winters with lots of snow and I am excited about the heating factor, but during those months (November-March) the natural materials are limited... So I should probably plan on buying bedding during those times? Or use hay?

run was open last winter in N IL.. I saved leaves and such .. when that ran out I bought shavings..I will save more leaves this year... 12 bags was all I saved last year

 

[Beekissed]

Are any of you using DL in a are with no roof? Or are your runs under a roof to protect from precipitation? And then anyone living where you get harsh winters? We have harsh winters with lots of snow and I am excited about the heating factor, but during those months (November-March) the natural materials are limited... So I should probably plan on buying bedding during those times? Or use hay?

My run is 90% open and netted kennel panel constructed. 10% under Our barn roof to give the birds protection from the elements and yes, we can have some pretty harsh winters in Missouri.

What prompted me to start moving my litter from coop to run floor was watching our hens and roosters during the winter when they ventured out into the run on a cold day. They would do their scratch and peck thing for awhile and then stop, balance on one leg and pull the other leg up into their belly feathers to warm it with the other foot either in water or snow. I didn't like that at all for them so I started moving the litter from the coop to the run where I spread it evenly. After that, it was all up to the chickens and as I said, they had a ball with it. Best of all, it gave their feet protection over the coldest part of the winter, namely January for us.

If you have a wooded area on your property or nearby, leaves are always available on the forest floor. We have a lot of timber on our farm and in some places the leaves are 10 inches deep and ready starting to decompose on top of the ground. Lot's of work, yep, but free if you can find it and are willing to harvest it out of the woods.

I agree!! If you have a local town, there are many, many bags of free leaves already raked up and bagged for you. I collected nearly 300 large bags of leaves this year in just a 3-4 day period...easy work. It was more work just opening all those bags and spreading the leaves. Some were stored for coop bedding, most were used on the orchard and garden.

Very few of these bags had foreign objects in them...mostly plastic water bottles, potted plant markers, odds and ends of plastic. These were easily found and removed when emptying the bags.

I'll be doing the same thing next fall if I'm still here and have given eggs and compost to one couple, in particular, who have said they will save their leaves for me...they pick up 90 bags per fall off their pin oaks! They also chop the leaves before bagging, so they have the perfect leaf collection. I also have taken eggs to another older couple with oak and maple trees and they too bag up around 100 bags per year and said I could have them again in the fall. I'll keep giving these people eggs and garden produce this season so they will remember the dividends of their leaves come fall.

I also scout for free wood chips~not wood shavings or sawdust~but ramial wood chips wherein the tree's smaller limbs and leaves have been shredded along with their branches so that the green material has been piled with the brown and all the particles are of different size and shape. This makes for the best long term compost of all, as all of those particles compost at different rates and it creates a great heat.

Recently I found a source of free loose straw that had been sitting in a pile for a long while...underneath is black as coal, the top part loose straw, so the combination makes for some great composting choices.

Just put the word out early and often, keep your eyes open and you may find yourself the recipient of some great free materials for coop and run bedding. Corn shucks make for great air spaces....many people would love to have them cleaned out of their gardens at the end of the season. Weeds, flower trimmings, grass clippings, etc.

The imperative word here is FREE.

 

[16 paws]

Thanks Beekissed.
Great info....
Happy Resurrection Day!

 

[Blooie]

It took me forever to learn the difference between "deep litter" and "deep bedding". Fortunately my good friend @Beekissed is a patient teacher!!

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks Beekissed.
Great info....
Happy Resurrection Day!

Oh, yes!!! A happy, happy resurrection day to you as well, 16 Paws!

 

[kekstrom]

I agree!!  If you have a local town, there are many, many bags of free leaves already raked up and bagged for you.  I collected nearly 300 large bags of leaves this year in just a 3-4 day period...easy work.  It was more work just opening all those bags and spreading the leaves.  Some were stored for coop bedding, most were used on the orchard and garden. 

Very few of these bags had foreign objects in them...mostly plastic water bottles, potted plant markers, odds and ends of plastic.  These were easily found and removed when emptying the bags. 

I'll be doing the same thing next fall if I'm still here and have given eggs and compost to one couple, in particular, who have said they will save their leaves for me...they pick up 90 bags per fall off their pin oaks!  They also chop the leaves before bagging, so they have the perfect leaf collection.  I also have taken eggs to another older couple with oak and maple trees and they too bag up around 100 bags per year and said I could have them again in the fall.  I'll keep giving these people eggs and garden produce this season so they will remember the dividends of their leaves come fall. 

I also scout for free wood chips~not wood shavings or sawdust~but ramial wood chips wherein the tree's smaller limbs and leaves have been shredded along with their branches so that the green material has been piled with the brown and all the particles are of different size and shape.  This makes for the best long term compost of all, as all of those particles compost at different rates and it creates a great heat. 

Recently I found a source of free loose straw that had been sitting in a pile for a long while...underneath is black as coal, the top part loose straw, so the combination makes for some great composting choices. 

Just put the word out early and often, keep your eyes open and you may find yourself the recipient of some great free materials for coop and run bedding.  Corn shucks make for great air spaces....many people would love to have them cleaned out of their gardens at the end of the season.  Weeds, flower trimmings, grass clippings, etc. 

The imperative word here is FREE. 

Well we are on a dairy farm so there is a plethora or organic hay and straw... All we could get for pennies or free. So THAT I am excited about. The leaves would be a little more scarce, we are in the high desert of Oregon and surrounded by evergreens, so while there are trees around that people take every fall, they are fewer. I will be putting the word out early for those.

 

[Blooie]

Well we are on a dairy farm so there is a plethora or organic hay and straw... All we could get for pennies or free. So THAT I am excited about. The leaves would be a little more scarce, we are in the high desert of Oregon and surrounded by evergreens, so while there are trees around that people take every fall, they are fewer. I will be putting the word out early for those.

But you should have an abundance of pine straw, right?

 

[kekstrom]

But you should have an abundance of pine straw, right?

This is true... we are surrounded by Junipers to be specific... but there are places where pine needles fall that I could collect. Hadn't even thought about that!