Results from First Year with Deep Litter Method

[paintedChix]

I need a bumper sticker: I brake for bagged leaves!

Cafe Press - design your own!!

 

[paintedChix]

BeeKissed -

Got my answer to the question I had asked about chicken remains when watching the "Humanure" videos and going out to the Loveable Loo website. If you follow that composting plan, everything goes into the compost pile for roughly a year, then composts for about 18 months w/o being uncovered at all before being dug out for use in gardens. Several sources stated that it isn't a problem - with dairy, meat, grease, animal remains from butchering, dead chickens/rabbits, and composting toilet product... Though I wouldn't do all that (I don't think?) in the DLM.

Funny thing - I didn't catch this in his videos when I watched them previously. ON the humanure videos, he alternates and uses what's available for cover material in the compost piles with the seasons. In the fall/winter - it's leaves, pine cones, twigs and baled straw. In the spring/summer - it's baled straw/hay, grass clippings, weeds. And int the composting toilets - they state that the best cover material in the bucket is fresh sawdust not shavings or sand or.... I have found that shredded paper works fairly well in ours... I don't yet have an easy source for sawdust.

 

[Beekissed]

BeeKissed -

Got my answer to the question I had asked about chicken remains when watching the "Humanure" videos and going out to the Loveable Loo website. If you follow that composting plan, everything goes into the compost pile for roughly a year, then composts for about 18 months w/o being uncovered at all before being dug out for use in gardens. Several sources stated that it isn't a problem - with dairy, meat, grease, animal remains from butchering, dead chickens/rabbits, and composting toilet product... Though I wouldn't do all that (I don't think?) in the DLM.

Funny thing - I didn't catch this in his videos when I watched them previously. ON the humanure videos, he alternates and uses what's available for cover material in the compost piles with the seasons. In the fall/winter - it's leaves, pine cones, twigs and baled straw. In the spring/summer - it's baled straw/hay, grass clippings, weeds. And int the composting toilets - they state that the best cover material in the bucket is fresh sawdust not shavings or sand or.... I have found that shredded paper works fairly well in ours... I don't yet have an easy source for sawdust.

That's good info to know.

I wouldn't do it in the DL either...would have to be pretty deep indeed to keep that smell down while decomposing.

Too bad you don't live near a sawmill, most of our local mills and even furniture making places seem to have a glut of sawdust they will give away or sell very cheaply. Folks around here who keep horses will get it delivered by the dump truck loads and keep it handing for stall bedding.

Smart to use seasonal materials that are available...keeps costs down. I can't believe I ever bought pine shavings, with all the leaves going to the landfill in this area. Never again.

 

[KikiM]

I'm so glad i found this post I think i am going to try using all the leaves from my yard! There are so many choices its hard to choose.

 

[Mims]

So can sawdust be used in DL? My co-workers parents are furniture makers, and would be delighted to give me as much as I could stand.

 

[Beekissed]

So can sawdust be used in DL? My co-workers parents are furniture makers, and would be delighted to give me as much as I could stand.

It can be used, but I'd advise using it too much, unless in conjunction with other materials and only as your bottom layer or in thin layers between other materials...it tends to hold moisture well, which makes it great for the bottom layer but not so great as the whole litter pack. It's very dense and doesn't allow a lot of air into the pack, so decomposes slower...but does break down faster than pine shavings because it has a smaller particle size.

I've used it as the bottom layer under my roosts and, at first, I thought...big mistake...because you can't really flip it well and can't flip it at all when it's too moist~ it tends to cake. But, as time went on and it stayed below and the leaves and other materials were worked right on top of that, I found that it was wonderful for holding moisture where I wanted it and for helping the litter decompose in that manner.

If one is layering in materials like lasagna, just starting out and wanting to get a good pack at the bottom of the DL, the sawdust works really well for that. I don't know that it would work as well in the dryer parts of my coop and would probably increase the dust factor there but I really love it at the bottom of the DL under the roosts. It lasts a long time there and accepts a lot of manure but it worked best in the areas where larger particles got mixed into it and there were resulting air spaces...those areas decomposed faster than the ones with solid, caked sawdust. I could dig those caked areas up a year later and still find pockets of dry looking sawdust and it wasn't a bit broken down.

I'd use it sparingly at first and just play with it until you see how it acts in your coop. It may work better in the run than the coop as it would get more moisture there and have a better decomposition rate. I'd definitely get some of that free stuff and start experimenting with it....let us know how it goes?

 

[yellowchicks]

I'm so glad i found this post I think i am going to try using all the leaves from my yard! There are so many choices its hard to choose.

If you can mulch the leaves first, it works even better.

 

[Mims]

Beekissed, I sure will. Everything you said makes total sense. Thank you!

 

[Bridebeliever]

@Beekissed have you written an article on Deep Litter? I you have could you link it here. I looked and couldn't find one by you, but I'm searching with my phone and it's not quite as user friendly as a computer. TY

 

[Beekissed]

No, I've never written an article on it, though I posted a vid that shows what it can look like and all. Don't know if it will help you, but I'll post it again...