Results from First Year with Deep Litter Method

[Beekissed]

Keep the feces directly under the roosts turned under each morning...what they can't reach, won't attract them. You could also start feeding fermented feeds, which leaves the fecal matter less attractive to flies as the feed is more completely digested and doesn't have any sugars in it to attract flies. I haven't seen a fly in my coop or in the yard on feces for three years now since feeding fermented feed. It's easy to do and don't cost a thing to ferment your feed.

That's just one reason to feed fermented feeds...there's a whole list of good benefits to it, not the least of which it will cut your feed bill nearly in half and your flock will enjoy a healthier life. Here's a link to any questions about it and this page will have a list of the noted benefits from feeding the FF.

http://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[cwrite]

Thought I should add this about liming:

From: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/47639/is-it-safe-to-use-lime-in-the-chicken-coop
Is it Ag lime or Hydrated Lime? Hydrated will kill them...
here is the information from the Dept. of Agriculture
There are two different kinds of lime.
Hydrated lime, slake lime, or "burn lime"- This is pure white. Hydrated lime is very caustic, so the bag will have a warning on it. This is the kind of lime you use for white wash . This lime will burn you and your livestock. Do not use it on the floor. Do not breath it.
Agricultural lime, "ag lime", "garden lime", "barn lime" or dolomite- This lime is gray and can be used to spread on the floor of your barn. This is safe for you and your livestock. It will not burn.
In the past we spread Ag. lime on our barn floor because it provides an antibacterial quality, dries out and "sweetens" the floor , and also it makes it easier to clean, for some people.
If you just ask for lime at your feed store, they will probably give you hydrated lime. If you say it's for the barn floor they will still probably give you hydrated. Please be safe, get the "Ag" lime .

 

[tracecom]

Obviously, the deep litter method works for some, and I haven't tried it, so I won't criticize it.

However, I do take issue with the oft-repeated claim that the use of a poop board inevitably leads to odor. I have a 4 x 8 coop with one rooster and 10 young hens; they have access all day to a screened 105 square foot run, which has about 6 inches of coarse wood mulch over dirt. The coop has a wooden floor covered with seamless vinyl, over which I keep about 2 inches of pine shavings. I have an eight-foot roost pole about eight inches above a two foot by eight foot poop board. The poop board holds 40 pounds of Sweet PDZ.

Once a week, I scoop the poop out of the Sweet PDZ, all of which except the previous night's droppings, are dry and essentially odorless. I dump them into a five gallon bucket, and take the bucket to the compost pile, which also has no odor. I add a few handfuls of new pine shavings to the floor of the coop. This takes about fifteen minutes. I spend an additional five minutes cleaning the walk boards in the run.

I change the Sweet PDZ after six months, and the pine shavings after three months. Except for the area around the water nipple (also in a five gallon bucket,) there is no wetness anywhere on the floor, and no odor in the coop. I also add fresh mulch to the run every three months, and periodically throw in some mulched leaves, straw, or hay to scratch through. The only time I smell poop in the run is just after one of the chicks dumps a wet one, and the odor dissipates in a very short time.

The DLM might work for me, but I see no advantage to it over what I am doing.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
It all adds up to time and wasted motion, for the same results as just turning in the poop under the roosts each morning~10 seconds, at the most~and throwing down some dry material once a month in the winter, even less in the summer....I generally have to add nothing at all in the summer months.

The advantages? Time, effort, and money not wasted as described above, and additional protein and health for your flock are added.

 

[tracecom]

It all adds up to time and wasted motion, for the same results as just turning in the poop under the roosts each morning~10 seconds, at the most~and throwing down some dry material once a month in the winter, even less in the summer....I generally have to add nothing at all in the summer months.

The advantages? Time, effort, and money not wasted as described above, and additional protein and health for your flock are added.

You must move a lot faster than I can. In 10 seconds, I couldn't get the coop door open and find the pitchfork, much less turn an eight-foot long pile of poop in the floor.

 

[Beekissed]

You must move a lot faster than I can. In 10 seconds, I couldn't get the coop door open and find the pitchfork, much less turn an eight-foot long pile of poop in the floor.

We were discussing moving litter, not walking to the coop.

And since I keep my pitchfork right beside my roosting area, I don't have to search for it. And, yes, I move quickly because I'm used to manual labor and getting things done smoothly and ergonomically. That's why the DL appeals to me. One doesn't have to mine for gold in that area, a quick stick and flip is all that's necessary to cover poop. So, figure one stick and flip for each foot of space you are dealing with and you could actually have yours covered in 8 seconds, not 10.

 

[cwrite]

We were discussing moving litter, not walking to the coop.

And since I keep my pitchfork right beside my roosting area, I don't have to search for it. And, yes, I move quickly because I'm used to manual labor and getting things done smoothly and ergonomically. That's why the DL appeals to me. One doesn't have to mine for gold in that area, a quick stick and flip is all that's necessary to cover poop. So, figure one stick and flip for each foot of space you are dealing with and you could actually have yours covered in 8 seconds, not 10.

I think whether DL works in the coop also depends on climate Beekissed. Here, at the moment it's been between 70-85% humidity for a while and over 30C nearly every day. When it rains, it's a heavy monsoon like rain. My coop lasts a couple of weeks before the smell bothers me, maybe three if it's been cooler. DL works in the run, which is fully covered, but if it rains it smells because it gets wet around two sides from rain coming in at an angle. My next coop will be a three sided coop which is more appropriate to the weather here, but I can't see DL working in an enclosed space in this climate. I'd love to hear from others who have a similar climate because so much seems to be aimed at cooler climates or places that actually experience winter.

 

[enola]

Deep litter should work in basically any climate, especially warm and damp climates. Getting DL to work really well takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, it becoms easy!

 

[Beekissed]

I think a humid, wet climate would actually help it more than otherwise, as would a warm, humid one. After all, it just mimics the forest floor if it's done right and it requires moisture for that to happen. I think it would be much, much harder to manage it in an arid, dry climate than it would in a moist one.

Definitely a person would need incredibly good ventilation in a moist climate...which is why I have an open air coop that can be opened up to accept airflow from all sides in a big, big way. I live in the mountains and we have 50%-85% humidity here most of the time, summer and winter...for instance, we are sitting on 69% humidity tonight but it will rise to 84% tomorrow....no rain in sight, that's just life in these hills.

The only time mine does have any odor is when the temps drop to teens and subzero and stay there long enough to freeze the litter....then is when I smell the manure the most. I solve that by adding a fresh bag of leaves to cover the frozen bedding and keep it warmer in the coop.

 

[RonP]

Deep Litter...

Do a bit of searching and research composting.

Chicken manure is essentially a hot nitrogen source.

When properly balanced with carbon sources, such as wood shavings or dried leaves, the results are fabulous.

As said by Beekissed,

No mud or flies.

The odors resemble the smell of a deep forest floor.

If you have anything else, something is out of sorts, usually once identified, easily corrected.