Results from First Year with Deep Litter Method

[Beekissed]

I'd try it and see how it all goes. Could be it will have lost any properties by now that it originally had.

 

[paintedChix]

Soo... I too have questions. Almost had a heart attack when someone mentioned you needed to remove sand from the run.

We moved into this property in December 2014. Our chickens had been in temporary qtrs at a friends' farm for 3 months when we moved them here at the end of January. I moved them into the "coops/runs" that were here. The whole property that is cleared is SAND. I want to amend all this sand w/ what the chickens produce and to that extent I moved all the chicken tractors out to the pony pastures - hoping to amend all that sand thru chicken droppings and moving the chicken tractors. I'm also looking at free ranging/pasturing chickens w/i areas fenced just for them - but at this time, the grass/weeds out in the pastures only seem to support sand fleas and sand mites! The grass is negligible though we do have a terrible thorny weed (painful to the legs from mid thigh down and catches the ankles just WRONG whenever I'm in the chicken area or out in the dark).

The "coop area" has several pens that are roofed that are currently working for the chickens we had/have. Then I got some more to keep in 2 of the tractors out in the pasture (9 cockerels in one; 12 pullets in the other - all Brahma Xs sired by same Roo. The cockerels are going to freezer camp in Oct/Nov - some are already good sized though I haven't weighed them. Hatched july/Aug). Still trying to decide what type of birds I really want to put in the 3rd tractor and decide when I want to build more... If I even need to?




The ones in the buildings/coops/pens - were free ranging but currently are being kept up - for two reasons. I want the eggs find-able in short amounts of time (i have NOT been able to teach any of our girls to use a nesting box! - most love trying to build their own nest under bushes or in the trees - currently they will lay on top of the nesting box, or on the ground in front of them) since all of us work long hours and then chores take time AND I was tired of losing chickens to all the hawks (and other predators?) that showed up. SO. The ground in these pens was/is sand as well but is packed and hard and slicker than all get out right now in the rain. My chickens have been on it now, too. Neither the already built coops/runs are fancy nor are the chicken tractor hoop coops (which also still need some work). But they are working. The pens are getting cattle panel hoops/tarps added for roofs (I can't bend over anymore to go into these short roofed pens), but haven't been completed yet due to other projects... These pens that we worked so hard on clearing out/up are now full of weeds again where there are no chickens... BUT when I pull them out this time, they'll be tossed on the ground in the 3 pens currently being used!





I have leaves that I will be gathering up as soon as it gets dry again (maybe next weekend- it's been raining/drizzling here almost non-stop since Thursday nite). I have LOTS of pine straw - I'd always been told and had/have read that that's not good in the coop/run and that I shouldn't be using it in the compost mix due to it's acidity. Now???

Do I need to loosen the dirt/sand/manure currently in the pens/coops BEFORE adding materials? If so, do i use a shovel (O< DEAR< GOSH - may not be able to do that) or a roto-tiller (could rent one). When I start adding the materials, do I need to also get some worms to add? I've never seen any actual worms here (I remember in other places we've lived when it rained worms came up out of the ground - NOT HERE). The 5" of rain we got in early August caused a bit of standing water in a couple of places - for about 5 hours. Then it was gone - drained right into the ground.

 

[Beekissed]

I'd say you are WAY over thinking this thing.

Don't worry about using the pine straw...it's fine and will break down just fine. Add other things with it to provide spaces in the compost and different compost times. You can always add a layer of garden lime every now and again to balance out the pH and this will also give the chickens more calcium, phosphorus and potassium in their diet. I wouldn't worry about the sandy soil underneath...if you leave the DL in place long enough and deep enough and try a variety of bedding materials, that ground will start to soften up and be more conducive to bug and worm life.

If you have access to wood chips from tree trimming companies, that would be an excellent place to start for the base of your DL in the runs. Leaves, pine cones and needles, a little sprinkling of hay or lawn clippings now and again, garden waste, kitchen scraps, and anything else you would place in a compost pile can be thrown in your runs.

Just mimic a forest floor and you'll be just fine on the DL.

 

[AkChris]

Quote: No need to do the mixing or tilling of dirt yourself...put those chickens to work doing it. They love to scratch up the ground and will have a run tilled for you in no time on their own. They would likely take care of all the weeds too so you really don't have to pull them either (except maybe the thorny ones). You don't really need to till before starting a deep bed. But if you want to just put the chickens in there on the bare ground, throw out a bit of scratch around the pen and the chickens will till the soil looking to get all the scratch. Then start dumping in piles of leaves, wood chips, weeds, etc. Again let the chickens do the work of spreading them out. Pine straw is fine in deep litter...I have quite a bit in mine. You don't want 100% pine straw because it's not very absorbent but it does fine in a mix.

 

[paintedChix]

And to think we've been putting all the compostable stuff from the kitchen in a compost pile a long, long ways away from the chicken areas!

Thanks all! I am looking forward to giving all this a try. Will save this and report back in the future... LOL.

 

[DeansMill]

Excellent reading!! My questions:
I am just putting the finishing touches on my coop. It is 12x10? The open floor space is 7x7. Nesting boxes are set in an old armoire that the building was actually built around (crazy). The floor is wooden, I think about six inches off the ground. I have spent a bit of time sealing up holes from missing knots that would allow rodent access. I want to do DLM, but I am concerned about the floor while I build up. Should I put anything down before my first layers? I intended to do one shavings topped with leaves from all around the neighborhood... I don't have many trees other than huge oaks. How deep do I need it to be to start and will that be enough heading into November when my 15 babies get evicted from the house?

 

[Beekissed]

Excellent reading!! My questions:
I am just putting the finishing touches on my coop. It is 12x10? The open floor space is 7x7. Nesting boxes are set in an old armoire that the building was actually built around (crazy). The floor is wooden, I think about six inches off the ground. I have spent a bit of time sealing up holes from missing knots that would allow rodent access. I want to do DLM, but I am concerned about the floor while I build up. Should I put anything down before my first layers? I intended to do one shavings topped with leaves from all around the neighborhood... I don't have many trees other than huge oaks. How deep do I need it to be to start and will that be enough heading into November when my 15 babies get evicted from the house?

Pine shavings take tons of nitrogen to decompose...

Quote:
....so you may want to dispense with using pine shavings. It would take 15 birds years to come up with enough nitrogen to compost pine shavings in a wooden floor coop.

Quote:

Since layers only produce 35 lbs of nitrogen per ton of manure, you can do the math. LOTS of poop from your hens before that pine is going to decompose. Meanwhile it won't absorb much moisture and it will be putting off plenty of ammonia. I'd skip the pine shavings altogether. I made that same mistake when I first started out in DL and wound up doing more work than I had planned and wasting more money on wood shavings than I should have. All I got was deep bedding that stunk.

You might wish to either paint your floor with a moisture sealant, which I would extend for 6 in. up your walls as well, or you can l lay down a sheet of linoleum or similar material to protect it from the moisture.

The first layer I'd put down is a bucket or so of rich soil and then I'd add your leaves. I'd build it deep to trap moisture in the lower level to jump start it, so just load up that coop with leaves...the chickens will soon have them tromped down to nothing and then I'd add more. I'd keep adding and letting them knock them down until you had 6-10 in. of litter pack. I'd include things that will provide air spaces like small twigs, the occasional handful of woody weed stems or corn stalks and shucks, pine cones, a thin layer of hay now and again or grass clippings(don't have to be dried out as you will need the moisture), even corn cobs, etc. Nothing in any large amount except the leaves. I'd also store all the leaves you can for winter bedding, as the leaves really break down quickly.

Do you have a big run or any place they can get outside when it snows? If not, you may have trouble putting 15 birds in a 7x7 place when the heavy snows confine them to the coop....could cause feather picking and other social issues.

Another bit of advice is to put the chickens out in the coop now so they can develop a good winter coat before the cold of November rolls around. They won't do that in a climate controlled house and, when they suddenly get exposed to cold weather, they could have a hard time adjusting...a big shock to the system and could compromise their health. Better to put them out now so they can start building their winter wear now and hardening off during these cool nights coming along.

How are you set for ventilation in your coop?

 

[RonP]

Excellent reading!! My questions:
I am just putting the finishing touches on my coop. It is 12x10? The open floor space is 7x7. Nesting boxes are set in an old armoire that the building was actually built around (crazy). The floor is wooden, I think about six inches off the ground. I have spent a bit of time sealing up holes from missing knots that would allow rodent access. I want to do DLM, but I am concerned about the floor while I build up. Should I put anything down before my first layers? I intended to do one shavings topped with leaves from all around the neighborhood... I don't have many trees other than huge oaks. How deep do I need it to be to start and will that be enough heading into November when my 15 babies get evicted from the house?

Albany, if I remember correctly, gets cold...

Your coop floor being 6" off the ground...well, pretty much any moisture required for deep litter to compost properly is going to freeze solid into a brick.

Might I suggest forgetting about the deep litter, and just go with deep bedding.

I have a similar situation as you, this is what I do.

Start with 8 - 10 inches of pine shavings, you will need around 4 cubes.

As they compress, fluff with a pitch fork, or throw some scratch and let the birds do it.

Proper ventilation is extremely important. Do not underestimate this.

As the pine shaving level decreases, just add more.

Keep the level constant at 8 - 10 inches.

Your manure will dry, your coop will be dusty. Expect this.

Once a year or so, remove everything. I dump it all into the outside run.

It will decompose nicely in about 6 months to nice rich compost.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:

It's gets 17 below zero here and mine doesn't freeze....especially since I stopped using pine shavings, which did indeed used to freeze. The DL actually keeps the coop 10 degrees warmer than the outside air. In the really cold snaps like subzero weather I put a fresh bag of leaves on top the litter for dry footing, the moisture is still below but it still doesn't freeze. It's all about management.

On the day this was filmed(the end of Feb. 2015) we had nighttime temps of 5* and daytime of 23*, with temps leading up to that day dipping into -8* at night and only getting above freezing one day that week. The previous week to this film daytime temps ranged from 5* to 35*.

 

[RonP]

@Beekissed , is your coop floor also elevated, allowing cooling from all 6 sides?

I believe that is why my deep litter failed inside the coop, and froze solid.