Deep litter method

[ruffles]

Are you speaking of a wooden floor?/

I have plastic over the plywood floor, I clean it daily, shake off droppings and add them to the compost. Also added are the straw and shavings to the compost which is located in the garden

I guess I am confused.

I have only one coop with a wooden floor, the other houses are 9 foot , 4 foot wide rabbit hutches, The middle of the hutches have very heavy screening, then, on either side of the hutches
are cubbies with wooden floors. I use shavings and straw in the cubbies and in the winter straw on the screening.

SOO, with a coop how can you only clean once a year ???

 

[bairo]

Quote:
This is quite an old post, but i thought I would comment anyway as i have been asked this before.
Straw and especially hay does not seem to dry out as easily as wood shavings, especially when it is on top of a dirt floor. If you will put down a very,very thin layer of cedar and cover this with two inches of wood shavings (the bigger the better, not saw dust) it will work great. You can top dress this with DE. Once a week or more often if you like, spend a few minutes raking it and turning it over. About 2 months later or when the shavings get mucky, add an inch of shavings. Repeat until the layer gets too thick or you need your new super mulch! Usually anywhere between 6 months and a year. A poop board below the roosts will get you to a year a lot easier. This is a modified deep litter method (I would call it) and i think works pretty well.

 

[Hope119]

So what is the reason the bedding in deep litter should be turned/aerated?
Thanks!

 

[1muttsfan]

Manure and bedding in the deep litter method actually breaks down just like a mulch pile does. This does not happen as fast or as effectively without good air circulation. It also helps keep the moisture level more even.

 

[Hope119]

And what is the reason for us to want it to break down faster?

 

[1muttsfan]

It breaks down the poop so that you don't just have a smelly pile of chips and poop. Litter that is breaking down is crumbly, neither dry not wet, with no objectionable smell, and a crumbly texture. It produces a little heat as well.

 

[tdgill]

My guess is that it doesn't actually "break down" and turn to compost like a compost heap should, but dries out completely and being dry it doesn't give off any ammonia gases. Which is why I keep the litter stirred up pretty often. To mix the fresh droppings into the shavings and straw - to speed up the drying out process and keep ammonia away. You don't want a thick layer of droppings sitting there all wet and ucky. Which is why I also like to put shavings onto the poop board before they go to roost. I would like to lower the board some too. I'm not too keen on the board being just a few inches from my chicken's noses. lol

 

[Hope119]

Our chickens roost well above the floor and I also add shavings and hay pretty often (used to be about 5-6 times a week until I ran out of hay now) and there is no ammonia smell in there. Everything feels dry. So... still not sure if I should turn the bedding.

 

[kelidei]

I have glassboard floors in my coops... I am not sure exactly what "glassboard" is... other than some kind of extra tough plastic based product.... but I use the deep litter method too... and despite the flooring it works very well for me. a few weeks ago I cleaned out the last coop and what I shoveled out looked like dirt not litter. I dumped it into my gardens. I usually empty the coops out in the very early spring and then again in late fall. My husband is a plumber and we carry and sell a product that is 100% natural based on friendly bacteria (supposedly you could eat it

) it is used in drains and septic systems to break waste down... I put it in the coops when I change out the bedding. It says it can be used in litter boxes so I thought what the heck... been using it for about 2 years and it really helps break things down. I have one coop, because of its design, that has minor ventilation problems we have been working on improving it and it is better but in that one I will throw down some PDZ and/or shavings if it seems too moist. I was told the way to tell is to pick up a handful of litter and squeeze it together... it should stay clumped for a few seconds ad then fall apart... if it won't clump it is too dry... if it stays clumped it is too wet.

 

[1muttsfan]

It actually does break down exactly like a mulch pile. It is not supposed to be dry, if the poop is just drying out the pile is too dry and has had too much dry bedding added.