REALLY cold weather

[brendajj]

I think i may over think things far to much haha..Maybe its a good thing i realize that, but it doesn't stop me LOL i just saw thisand looking for some feedback on this

• Deep litter. The deep litter method is low-maintenance, and it keeps hens warm through winter as the litter and manure slowly compost and release heat into the coop. Just start with a clean coop and about 4 inches of litter (hay, straw, wood shavings, or a mix) in the summer or early fall. Simply add more litter throughout the season as needed to keep the bedding fairly dry and clean. By winter, the litter should be about 8 to 10 inches deep. It will be composting nicely and giving off heat. The chickens’ scratching will keep it aerated and turned, especially if you throw scratch grains in the coop for them, but you can give it a hand with a pitchfork every once in a while.

Anyone want to weigh in on this? Has anyone tried this ...I would think the ammonia smell would would be blinding and burn the crap out of my sinuses...Already feel sorry for the chickens

 

[brendajj]

Oldhen your not complicating anything i am really loving the feedback it is all stuff i need to think about. I am pretty sure once i start with chickens it will become an obsession ...Very much like when i took up knitting haha My yarn stash is right off the chain and 8 projects going at any given time

 

[brendajj]

thank you Cindy please keep any thoughts or things you would have done different living in the deep freeze for 8 months out of the year hens will probable be living inside so i don't them crowed I saw that the wider roost is better for winter chickens so going to do that...That was repeated a few times from post and in articals so that's a must and the cull my hen's well i can honestly say will not happen i will name them all and they will be my pets i don't have any problem with people that do there a food source for many i know this but its not something i want to do...Unless it is sick or suffering it will die of old age of this i am sure haha

 

[brendajj]

oh my now i am rethinking my coop size but just had a thought i am going to build it so i can add a mirror imagine on the end if the herd gets to be...lol you all see how important your feed back is to my questions because i know i am going to be like the majority on here and will just keep adding tp the flock lol

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

as far as deep litter here my take on it, it doesn't work with any flooring, it has to be on dirt, you have to have enough room for the chickens to dig without kicking all the stuff into their food and water, and you have to be a person who doesn't like when stuff gets cleaned.

I practice deep litter in two places, in my bantam run, I put leaves, grass clippings, the bedding out of the coop, hay, and any scraps and it breaks down into a fluffy dirt like stuff that can be used for gardens. The other place I use deep litter is in my big shed it's divided into areas and where my goats are it becomes a deep litter over the season, by spring it doe have a strong ammonia smell that lingers until my husband shovels it out in the fall, then we start all over again, but this shed is somewhat ventilated.

I do let my bedding build up a bit in the winter, but then when it reaches a certain point it gets cleaned out and we start again, I would say we clean it about 3-4 times a winter, when I first got into chickens obsessively I would clean like every week.

I don't think deep litter can work correctly when the ground is frozen, but I think you will probably do like I do, and start with pine shavings, and put hay down and the birds with mix it up, if you go straight hay, it will form more solid layers and keep your chickens off the ground a bit.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

this is my goat area with deep litter

this is my bantam run



And a couple of pens within my shed

 

[brendajj]

Well you have a great set up oldhenlikesdogs...*I will probable be a poop picker i was going to use drop trays under the roost so i think that will catch a good portion
And my job might not allow me to clean everyday. I am self employed and have crazy hours i have cut back alot in the last few years i work locally i do not run the hwy anymore those jobs are to long and to hard on my old carcass i turned 60 the end of January i don't feel those years normally but 13 hours of sitting in an escort truck moving wide heavy loads around country takes its tole haha

So thats when i find a comfort in taking care of my critters I would worry about all the moister from built up bedding...in my case it would be frozen into a block not sure i couldn't move it i would have to break it into chunks to get it out if i left it to long

I keep wanting to ask this and i keep forgetting about it

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/degen.html Diatomaceous Earth Human grade there is a industrial or something its called But this stuff is incredible it can kill parasites inside and out fleas and ticks hate it really incredible stuff I swear it is what out land is made of my daughter came to visit one summer her dog shew brought had a few fleas she always treats him with something but he was here for only a few days and there was not a flea on him But i digress please check this out it is cheap and readily available so i am going to give it a try

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Everything I read says it's not good on your lungs, I avoid it, because I don't need any more health problems, sounds like you drive truck, I am retired from dog grooming due to arthritis, I gonna turn 48 this year, but I feel like I'm 80 most day hence my old hen title. I am lucky to have a good husband who let's me be a bum. I don't use any drop trays, just shovel it up after it builds up, I don't want to be handling no poopy boards, or I throw more bedding on top if I'm not ready to clean.

 

[brendajj]

I will have to go read some more i thought the human grade was ok but i know the other was toxic ..my lungs aren't that great either Well my hubby left today for his holiday he has a family reunion to go to...when he gets back i will be going back to my home town for a couple weeks All my family lives on Vancouver Island I always look forward to my 2 weeks at home..We can't take holidays together not with 5 dogs and i don't trust anyone to look after them and boarding that many isnt an option that was my first plan to open a boarding kennel But the work slow down here kind of changed that plan I had the money to build but i didn't want to spend it incase i needed it to live on...maybe next spring after all my coop will be built so i will need a new project...haha

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I use barn lime whenever I want to dry out an area, I put it in my nestboxes, on the floor after cleaning, we used it when we owned a dairy farm on the aisles, so we keep using it, why worry.