Deep litter too damp?

[awkwardkale]

Hi there!

How do I know if I’m doing the deep litter method correctly? By deep litter, I mean the one where the bedding is actively compositing in the run. I’m concerned because it just seems kinda wet. I have straw for bedding. Im just concerned about whether or not I need to start over again? I don't want to endanger the ducks or expose them to respiratory issues.

I have four Pekin ducks. And boy do they poop a lot! When my mom and I started letting them outside for the first time, they were confined to the run with their food and water in the straw. They of course made a pretty big mess, although I ended up removing all the soaked bedding. Now they have a whole big area to run around in, so they’re only in the run for the night. The water stays out all day.

They’re still fairly young, so we have been leaving their water in the run over night for them. The waterer is in an empty litter box that catches most of the stuff they spill. My concern is that they poop a lot at night, and I don’t know if it’s because they have access to water overnight that’s causing them to go more? Because every morning when I let them out, the straw has been flattened down and throughly pooped on is that normal?

Every morning I’ve been going in with a pitch fork and breaking everything up and turning it over. Then I cover everything with fresh straw. It just seems damp and I’m concerned about mold growing. I used some DE the other day to dry it out, but then I read that it’s not good to use for deep litter so I haven’t added any more. It doesn’t smell awful, just like damp straw and poop, no ammonia from what I can tell. It doesn’t burn my nose. The straw on the bottom is definitely wet..

Here’s some info about the set up:

The floor of the run is a dirt floor, with hardware cloth on the bottom to keep things from digging into it. I poured some topsoil over the cloth before adding straw just to press it down.

I don’t think ventilation is an issue—one side of the house is hardware cloth, and the other sides that are mostly wood still have hardware cloth at the top. The only spot without ventilation is the duck house. It has a wooden floor, so we’re not doing the deep litter method in there. We might also put a vent in the house— our family friend who built it was really worried about them having a spot completely protected from the wind.

The climate I live in is hot and humid in the summer. I’m in the South. The coop itself is located under a bunch of trees, but it gets lots of sun in the afternoon and evening. I don’t know if it matters, but the coop is on a bit of a slope, so excess water does drain downhill to some extent.

I’ll attach some pictures too:
I fill the blue bin with water during the day, but then I empty it and use it as a tray for the other waterer when I bring it into the coop. The yellow stuff is nutritional yeast. Again, the ducks are only in this spot at night and in the morning before i let them out.

 

[perkolator]

Do you use these chippings to 'make' garden soil @perkolator ?

I love them for breaking down the poops in the run with no real maintenance because they don't break down quickly. But you need a large area to store the pile you'll get from a tree trimmer.

I use wood chips in the chicken area, around all my fruit trees/orchard, and around my garden - I go through maybe 4+ chip drops per year if my back can handle it, lol. I kinda always have a pile of wood chips so I don't run out. Leaving it to age actually makes a really nice fungal-dominant compost all on it's own.

For making garden soil from the chicken area - I harvest old bedding from my main coop that I just add more material to for the last 2yrs - it gets around 16" deep on the downhill side. I skim the chunky bits off the top and transfer that into the larger run I've added; all the finer material from the bottom goes into my compost pile so I can water it and get it hot and improve it, then later use it in my garden beds, around plants, around my fruit trees, etc. I also started harvesting soil from the additional run, since I've got lots of wood chips in there too - that stuff has more dirt/mineral content, but is a great topsoil-type of material. Planning to use more of this in the future now that the downhill side of that run is like a foot deep above the surrounding terrain, it's just going to improve with time and more bedding and more chicken activity over it.

Just last weekend I extracted 6 wheelbarrows from the coop and with just some water it's now sitting at 140f. To get it hotter I might spike the pile with some fresh grass clippings or plant trimmings, soaked alfalfa pellets, or blood meal solution. Ends up great compost in the end, even better than when I was just composting plant trimmings and leaves - all that wood chip content gives it a nicer texture to turn and doesn't really need to be sieved in the end product

 

[aart]

I do have some medium flake pine shavings on hand. There’s also plenty of dead leaves I could find around the yard. Should I add grass clippings next time the yard is mowed?

Pine shavings would help dry the excess moisture, but can take a very long time to break down, not a great ingredient if garden soil is your goal.
Dry leaves would probably be better.
Grass clippings are a 'green' and may just add more moisture.

Sounds like maybe you need to study up on composting.
Learn about the balance of 'browns', 'greens', and moisture levels.

 

[perkolator]

No prob. Arborist wood chips are what you want, as they come from trees being chipped up; people don't really treat large trees with anything. Mulches from the store or even a landscaping supplier are a different thing - especially the dyed stuff; my local dump separates "lumber" that they chomp into mulch - I was told local companies buy that stuff in bulk for dying as colored mulch and for "playground mulch"; the actual plant material like from landscapers and arborists, all goes into their composting operation where they compost it and sell like 4 different stages of composted and sifted finished product.

Inside the coop structure I'd consider something like the poop boards, or maybe source some large cardboard sheets that fit the dimensions (I hit up local cardboard dumpsters for big cardboard) and use less bedding on top of it like a bedding tray - then regularly just pull the whole "tray" out and put it in the compost pile without doing any shoveling

 

[aart]

By deep litter, I mean the one where the bedding is actively compositing in the run. I’m concerned because it just seems kinda wet. I have straw for bedding.

Is straw the only 'ingredient'?
A good compost 'pile' needs a variety of ingredients to balance decomp and moisture levels.

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't know where in the South you are, but here in central North Carolina we have had a really SOGGY winter and spring. You may need to address drainage issues on your land where the coop is -- installing diversion ditches, French drain, or other water-management features in your landscape.

The only spot without ventilation is the duck house. It has a wooden floor, so we’re not doing the deep litter method in there. We might also put a vent in the house— our family friend who built it was really worried about them having a spot completely protected from the wind.

You will need to fix that. Birds have very delicate respiratory systems and an abundance of fresh air is critical to their good health.

Repecka Illustrates Coop Ventilation

Yes.

I do have some medium flake pine shavings on hand. There’s also plenty of dead leaves I could find around the yard. Should I add grass clippings next time the yard is mowed?

IMO, a mix of materials is better than any one bedding used alone.

Straw used alone is particularly prone to packing, matting, and developing anaerobic pockets.

Wood shavings and, even moreso, wood chips, will take a long time to compost, but they are much superior to straw for absorbency and managing water.

 

[aart]

I’m in east TN

Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[perkolator]

Do you think I should remove all the straw and start fresh? Or just try to balance out the mixture?

IMO if the goal is deep litter, just keep topping off the existing base with fresh dry material. I think the variety of organic materials will be better results, especially over straw - ever seen how a straw bale collapses into a slimy wet mess as it decomposes? A bale of wood shavings will help, but I'd be trying to source some arborist wood chips for adding in - they have a variety of sizes from the chunkier woody bits, as well as the smaller ramial bits (canopy/twigs/foliage) which will fill in some of the spaces so it's friendlier on the feet and help to decompose things. In the coop section where they're sleeping and pooping out these wet poops in high volume, you may want a system you clean out more regularly vs the deep litter.

 

[3KillerBs]

Inside the coop structure I'd consider something like the poop boards, or maybe source some large cardboard sheets that fit the dimensions (I hit up local cardboard dumpsters for big cardboard) and use less bedding on top of it like a bedding tray - then regularly just pull the whole "tray" out and put it in the compost pile without doing any shoveling

I don't think that poop boards work for ducks because ducks don't perch but, instead, sleep in a pile of bedding on the floor.

I could be wrong because I don't have ducks.

 

[perkolator]

Do you just go to a local tree trimming company to get the chips? Or do you go to a landfill?

I tried ChipDrop service for a while but it was less than stellar, so I just started calling local arborist companies to get on their list of local drop spots. I used to buy compost at our local dump but stopped now that I have PLENTY of volume just from the old chicken bedding and whatever else I collect on my property; that’s where I learned about their huge and awesome composting operation and how they separated everything.