yodelinginca
Chirping
(Background info at top, qs at bottom):
My husband and I are very interested in the deep litter method for our run. We have 5 hens all about 15mo. We have a 4x6 coop with about 2' space underneath, that also extends to another 5x6 of covered run. Currently our run bedding is sand, but it's terribly dusty and no matter how often we scoop it, still smells like barnyard. We are looking at deep litter method for dust reduction, compost generation, smell mitigation, and easier maintenance.
Q1: What kind of bark should we use/ things to stay away from?
Q2: Should we leave under the coop sandy for dust baths? (We'd put a border to keep the chips contained). It's only about 2' now, so if we put chips 1' deep they wouldn't have much room underneath, and there'd be no dust bathing unless we put a bin out that they can't tip over.
Q3: Is it even worth it for the size space we're looking at? (We do hope to add on another 4x4 section of run, but weren't able to this year due to COVID budget cuts)
Q4: We give our birds scratch & scraps every day, just throwing it on the ground. If we do deep litter, will they still be able to find it or should we get them a trough?
My husband and I are very interested in the deep litter method for our run. We have 5 hens all about 15mo. We have a 4x6 coop with about 2' space underneath, that also extends to another 5x6 of covered run. Currently our run bedding is sand, but it's terribly dusty and no matter how often we scoop it, still smells like barnyard. We are looking at deep litter method for dust reduction, compost generation, smell mitigation, and easier maintenance.
Q1: What kind of bark should we use/ things to stay away from?
Q2: Should we leave under the coop sandy for dust baths? (We'd put a border to keep the chips contained). It's only about 2' now, so if we put chips 1' deep they wouldn't have much room underneath, and there'd be no dust bathing unless we put a bin out that they can't tip over.
Q3: Is it even worth it for the size space we're looking at? (We do hope to add on another 4x4 section of run, but weren't able to this year due to COVID budget cuts)
Q4: We give our birds scratch & scraps every day, just throwing it on the ground. If we do deep litter, will they still be able to find it or should we get them a trough?