The Front Porch Swing

[bruceha2000]

I agree with you, Bee. Before I moved my deep litter had not been cleaned out for 5 years. I just took out what I needed for the garden. However, the girls just loved it when I took the pitch fork and turned the sections over so they could dig through and eat all the crawly goodies. I cringe every time I read about some one cleaning out all the bedding and starting over.

OK, then I AM doing it wrong! I turn over the top every morning to mix in the over night "contributions" and deeper occasionally. Full replacement once a year (so far, only had chickens not quite 2 years

)

So where are the definitive DL instructions?

Laura (the chicken!) not doing well playing "break the broody", she's in for day 3

Doesn't she know that the season known as "not winter" is pretty short in Vermont and she shouldn't waste it??

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

OK, then I AM doing it wrong! I turn over the top every morning to mix in the over night "contributions" and deeper occasionally. Full replacement once a year (so far, only had chickens not quite 2 years   )

So where are the definitive DL instructions?

Laura (the chicken!) not doing well playing "break the broody", she's in for day 3   Doesn't she know that the season known as "not winter" is pretty short in Vermont and she shouldn't waste it??

The chickens can make their own beds. Toss a little scratch on the floor of their coop and they will keep the bedding stirred up so you mostly don't have to. Your job is to pack in fresh bedding occasionally and bring the treats.

 

[Tomtommom]

It seems I need to build a new coop.

It works.. but you can't DL in that! I empty it every month and a half or so, I add dehydrated lime and clean shavings in between cleanings. The flies in the coop aren't all that bad, they're out in the run on the fresh piles.

DL works best on bare ground floor, right? Maybe I just need to figure out a way to keep the rain out... although you say moisture helps.



It has a partial roof, the other part is hardware cloth. This is an older picture, they've dug the inside down a few inches by now

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

DL works best on bare ground floor, right? Maybe I just need to figure out a way to keep the rain out... although you say moisture helps.



It has a partial roof, the other part is hardware cloth. This is an older picture, they've dug the inside down a few inches by now

That's a cool looking, airy, coop. I like it.

I do think the DL works best right on the ground. Beekissed had a great suggestion for people doing DL on a building with a floor ... put down a layer of nice, active soil/mulch before you put in the bedding. That will import some "critters" that will help get the DL working for you instead of against you.

Our coops are on the ground, but I had the guys put down a layer of sand (for drainage) and then a layer of thick fabric weed barrier before I put in the DL, and that was just plain STOOOOOOOPID. For lots of reasons. I had the guys rip the weed barrier fabric up this past winter. I also had them put in some leaves last fall/winter. The DL seems much, much healthier now. I had someone over this past week, and took them on a tour of the coop. Granted, the sides of my coop are open most of the time, so there is plenty of fresh air blowing through. And the weather has been fabulous so the birds spend most of their time outdoors. But she remarked on the absence of poo on the floor, and also the lack of odor. We were standing in the dormitory room at the time. That is the room with nothing but roosts where over 100 birds sleep, so it tends to be where the birds do most of their pooping.

Now that the weed barrier is gone, the hens LOVE to dig down to the layer of sand, they either pick stuff out of it to eat or take a nice dustbath.

When I get flies they mostly hang out in the shed between the two coops ... that's a more enclosed space.

 

[LindaB220]

I buy a Captivator fly trap. Things stinks, so don't use it in your house

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/starbarreg;-captivatorreg;-fly-trap?cm_vc=-10005

The stuff that goes in here is used by people that can't trap raccoons, etc. Put up your pets. One spoon crystals and coke in tuna can. Put out by coop overnight. If bait not taken dispose before letting out pets. I haven't tried it but I've heard that it works within 5-10 min.

 

[Tomtommom]

Mine love to dig in the 'bedroom' and kick all that stuff down. (The kids call the roost part the bedroom and the area underneath is the kitchen). Those pictures are old, we have hooks in the area underneath now where their feeder hangs so it stays dry and one hangs a bucket with nipples. I sometimes hang the feeder on the ladder if I have younger birds (they're short!)



The coop catches rain for my garden

I have a hose attached on the other side of the fence. We're going to build something around the barrels eventually, to make it look 'pretty'.

In the fall I put fallen leaf in the bottom part and they do love shredding it. I rake it out and put it in the compost when it's shredded. Grass clippings go in the run too. I fill their compost with fallen branches and their old shavings. The rain usually compacts the stuff real nicely.

I need to get back to FF. They eat too much and the flies love the fresh poop.

 

[LindaB220]

You'd do well to leave the DE out of the mix. It's an indiscriminate killer of soft bodied insects and those the very ones you want helping to digest things in your DL. It's simply not necessary and it can actually kill the effectiveness of the system. I read where one member had used it and stopped using it....later on she was digging through her DL to remove for the garden and everything was rich and composted until she hit the layer with the DE~ where it was still undigested, dry and quite different than the other layers.

If you could layer in different types of carbon in your DL you'll have more success with getting your DL to start composting and "eating" your manures....try leaves, a sprinkling of flower/weed trimmings, pine needles, even some lawn trimmings in moderation and let it build like lasagna composting. Don't stir it around or dig through it too often....just lightly turn in the manure under the roost or throw a forkful of the litter over the poop. Add moisture if it needs it...it goes better if it has occasional moisture~you can just throw in your discarded waterer water as you clean it and refill it, or even just wet it down lightly with the hose if it can reach your coop.

All these things will help you get a more fly free zone there as there will be no feces to attract flies at all....they will be digested in the DL instead. I wish you guys could see my DL right now....lovely, moist underneath the top layer, rich composted goodness. I'm thinking about removing some of it~finally~to side dress my tomatoes. That DL has been growing and composting for 3 yrs now without me removing any of it and it's only about 8 in. deep. It has eaten tons of leaves, pine shavings, pine needles, flower and herb trimmings, hay, even twigs, deer hair, and bones.

You know, it's strange, but I never see any piles of poop at all. It's just like they don't do it. It's just shavings out of the brooder and later added more. One whole big bag 75 lbs. Then just adding weeds and leaves. That's it. I try to keep it watered down occasionally. Last week I added a little EM-1 (fermented juice) to the gallon waterer but I see nothing different. Still no poo. No flies. No smell. Healthy babies. 10 wks old. They are getting so big. The puny delawares are just as healthy.
I got my new eggs in the 'bator last night at 11pm. Six Basques and NINE Coronation Sussex. So thrilled. Temps are 99.5-100 and humidity stays 35% to 45%.

Had some drama at the house last night. AJ ran into my bedroom and yelled call 911, Mama is have a seizure. So I toted it in her room. She had stopped shaking by the time I got there but was totally out of it for 15 min. Eyes open and starring. Didn't know me or Clint. He called 911. Thought she was having a stroke or something. He's such a drama queen. You know the type. Then he called his head coach to say he couldn't come in today. They talked and I got into an argument with Clint because I told him not to tell everybody about the seizure. Aimee's extremely private about her business. Not a stroke The EMT's came and Clint insisted she needed to go to be checked. Heat exhaustion, dehydration, not eating or drinking water and she had a BIG snow cone with tons of sugar. She took a mild Tramadol for back pain and the combo did a number on her. No drugs in her system. No insurance. So Clints big rant is costing them at least a couple of grand for Ct scan and diff tests plus the Dr's visit. to ER. And before all the flashing lights pulled out of the driveway, it was already on FB. "Please pray for Clint Hortmans wife Aimee. On her way to the hospital for a seizure and possible stroke." And the bottom line is, she's back at work this morning.

 

[Triple Willow]

Are there any Auracana folks here? Pullet or cockrel? Sorry the pics aren't any better. These chicks are wild as a buck, couldn't turn loose or it would be in Montana by now! LOL
...also, chicks are 5 weeks old. I don't know but I'm guessing and HOPING pullet.

 

[enola]

I breed Araucanas. Can you post a picture of the chicken like a profile?

 

[bruceha2000]

Are there any Auracana folks here? Pullet or cockrel? Sorry the pics aren't any better. These chicks are wild as a buck, couldn't turn loose or it would be in Montana by now! LOL

TRUE Araucana? Where did you get them? Pretty uncommon I think.

How old?? It helps determine what you might expect to find in a cockerel.

Bruce