What is the best bedding for coops?

[MeepBeep]

I am with Gonehencrazy. I love the concept of the deep litter method. But, I just don't really understand how to get it started.  Is there a better time of year to start (winter/summer)?

Spring/summer so the bacteria and other microbes are most active and you have fresh greens like lawn clippings to feed it...

We have 4 adult hens and 11 young ones to be added soon.  In the process of building new coop 8x8.  I plan on having a poop catch under the roost.  Is 15 hens too many to do the deep litter method?

If you catch and dispose of overnight poop, deep litter should work for day poop especially if they are let out in a run daily...

Is there a good article or place to go to that really explains how to get started with the deep litter method that a newbie can understand?

There are lots of tutorials around, but as you might have found they vary all over the place...

First you coop has to have the depth to hold the deep liter, not all coops will... The doors in my coop are all raised 12" above the floor so there is a skirt all around to hold the litter...

Here is what I would suggest, layer up wood chips, straw, grass clippings, weeds, leaves and other organic greens in your coop to a depth of 18", if you have an outdoor compost pile take a shovel full of that compost and mix it in, if not just take a shovel of some decent natural soil (preferably in a wooded area vs your lawn) and mix this in... This shovel full will give you a booster seeding of the bacteria and microbes, it's not necessary as the bacteria and microbes will find there way, but it certainly won't hurt, the chickens should immediately compact that bedding down to much less, keep adding new bedding until you maintain at least 12"... I know many people claim 6" is enough and I personally don't believe so unless it's sitting on a dirt floor that becomes part of the deep liter in the end...

After that keep an eye on it, if you see poop caking up, either remove it or break it up and mix it back in yourself, but hopefully your chickens will do that for you... Keep an eye on smell, it might ramp up for a day or two but within a week there should be no poop smell to the litter, it should smell like compost or soil... Keep adding more greens like lawn clippings and leaves to maintain the depth... You can also mix in more straw and/or wood chips once you notice most of the originals have decomposed...

After 6 months to a year (most people switch out in the fall when leaves are plenty) you can remove up to about 75% of the litter and use in for fertilizer, always leave some behind to once again seed the new litter... I'm going on 2 years now and I personally have not removed any litter as it's still kicking just fine, but I have a huge coop so what works for me might not work for others...

Also be careful, don't dump in soaking wet grass clippings or leaves, you don't want the litter to clump... The end result if working properly as seen in my pictures feels and smells basically just like fresh organic potting soil straight out of a new bag...

Be aware it's not hot composted so most people don't recommend direct application around your garden, and this is again why most people do the clean out in the fall, this allows them to spread the compost in the garden after the season and sit for another 3-4 months over winter breaking down even further...

 

[mamatink7]

Sand is very popular in a lot of areas but I won't use it here.  I guess it's very absorbent for the area under the waterer and for absorbing the liquids in the chicken poop, but it packs into a surface that's hard a a rock when the moisture in it freezes.  It's also not very warm for them to sit on in the winter and it does not make for a soft landing for the chickens when they fly down then like it does in summer.  I don't know about other litters putting out heat - but I do know in the summer my chickens hollow out little spots and lay in them with their wings extended out of the hole on either side of their bodies to cool off, and in the winter they'll hollow out places and snuggle down into them, wings and all, sometimes with nothing showing but their heads, and they are content.  Put my hand in one of those little hollows one time when Agatha got up - nice, toasty warm little spot she had there!

I use anything I can get my hands on.  You are in Ohio, I see, so it's about that time of year when the leaves will start falling. Grab 'em!  Save 'em! Get some from your neighbors! And use 'em!! Dried leaves, lawn clippings (not a lot of those because it's a "green" addition to the litter) weeds and spent plants from the garden, dropped pine needles, a handful of pine shavings scattered, maybe some chopped straw....just about anything goes into the litter here, with dried leaves becoming my hands-down favorite. I think it's the chickens' favorite too, because boy do they go to town shredding them down!  The little twigs in with the raked up leaves make good air spaces in the litter, because it needs air to compost.  I also skipped the linoleum or anything like that on the floor, starting my litter on the bare ground where all the little helpful organisms live.  Folks do deep litter successfully with lots of different substrates, but I prefer what's already there.  I brood my chicks outdoors, so in their outdoor brooder pen I use straw for it's insulating properties.  When brooding season is done, I take down the brooder and rake all that straw right out into the run.

I don't use DE either.  To me it's overrated as the end all be all.  The dust is dangerous enough for us, so I can't imagine my chickens scratching around in it and inhaling it all the time at their level. Besides that, it kills the little soft bodied insects that are so beneficial to getting a good deep litter started.

If you are going to have mites in your coop and run, you are going to have them.  They are insidious little critters - total opportunists - and can show up in even the most fastidiously maintained setups.  I"m sure a lot of folks will come back and say that in a properly managed chicken area you'll never have them, but mites come from many sources and can set up house in the tiniest of nooks, crannys, and live there quite happily until you take action.  I have learned to spray my coop and run area with Neem Oil, following package directions, with the addition of just a touch of dish washing liquid to make it easier to work with. I do that a couple of times a year, since I don't often have to clean my coop and run, and on those rare occasions when I do an almost total clean out, I hit everything really good then.  I pay special attention to the areas where any wood joins, like where the roosts sit on the cleats, underside of the roosts, and all along the edges where the wood meets the dirt floor.  Window sills...anything wood gets a good dose.  It's harmless to the chickens, and you can use it as often as you need to keep mites under control.  I also hit the nests and when I take out the old nesting material to add new I hit the wall behind the nests as well.  Sounds like it takes more time than it does.....and takes a lot less time than getting a total infestation and having to do the whole 9 yards of totally gutting the coop, removing every scrap of litter, spraying everything down, dusting the every bird with a two week interval before you have to do the same thing over again.  Remember that a healthy bird can withstand a few mites, and if you are already pro-active they might get in but they usually don't become an overnight infestation.  Weather is also a factor to consider with mites - some mites don't die off during long cold winters so you still have to keep an eye on things.  I had a total, awful infestation once - and after fighting it for months and feeling like I was losing, things began to turn around.  Now I spend my time taking precautions rather than getting into another full scale battle!

I am so grateful to folks like @Beekissed
 and so many others who held my hand during the learning process!  But ultimately the decision on what to use is entirely yours.  We can tell you of our experiences, what we've liked and what we haven't, but you are there and we ain't.     You know what your budget will allow (my budget is hopeless so I prefer to take "free and available" whenever possible!) what your space allows, how much time you can spend out there, and what your idea of "clean" is.  Around here, if it doesn't stink and my birds are healthy, I'm on a roll!! Good luck!

thank you, as always, you have some great advice!!

 

[MeepBeep]

Sand is very popular in a lot of areas but I won't use it here.

My biggest 'concern' with sand is the fact that unless it drys out completely or is kept dry it can very easily compact when moist and go anaerobic and then you have the smell of all smells emitting from the slimy sand...

 

[mamatink7]

My biggest 'concern' with sand is the fact that unless it drys out completely or is kept dry it can very easily compact when moist and go anaerobic and then you have the smell of all smells emitting from the slimy sand...

I love the sand idea too but afraid they'll eat or ingest it but we are so humid here, it may not dry out.

 

[Debby R]

I am new to chickens but built a coop with linoleum floor and they don't slide. It's easy to clean.

 

[Peaky]

So am I understanding that "deep liter" is the use of sand on the floor of the coop instead of shavings or straw? I like that idea. Would be a lot easier to keep clean from day to day.
I'm going to try it next time I clean out my coops.

 

[rosemarythyme]

So am I understanding that "deep liter" is the use of sand on the floor of the coop instead of shavings or straw? I like that idea. Would be a lot easier to keep clean from day to day.
I'm going to try it next time I clean out my coops.

"Deep litter" is a mix of various organic materials (leaves, grass, wood chips, etc). There's a lot of articles on here about how it works and how to set it up if you're interested.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

My biggest 'concern' with sand is the fact that unless it drys out completely or is kept dry it can very easily compact when moist and go anaerobic and then you have the smell of all smells emitting from the slimy sand...

I would worry about the sand in cold/wet climates becoming frozen and hard. That's why we've never used it. Not to mention having to scoop frequently to keep clean. With the DLM, we only clean once a year.

 

[Texgal57]

I use a poop board, takes me five minutes to clean each day. The chickens are out in the run during the day so there is rarely any poop on the floor. My flooring is pine shavings and Sweet PDZ (which I love!) If there is any poop on the floor I just kick the SPDZ over it and scoop it up.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I have tried most if not all the above mention bedding and deep litter method. I also am a big fan of poop boards my boards are only 3½ inches away from the removable roost. The close proximity of the poop boards saves eggs from breaking or cracking when they are laid through the night.

This year I am trying a different tack. I placed a steel wire grid suspended 3½ inches above my covered vinyl floor (the height of a 2x4). The raw hen manure drops through the grid and does not come in contact with my birds what so ever.

The positive results so far I have found are:

1) My chickens feet and birds plumage in general are cleaner.
2) The nest boxes stay cleaner longer
3) My eggs are cleaner as well
4) I eliminated the cost of bedding
5) My chicken manure is better for composting.
6) The manure dries to a hard pellet and for the most part just rolls of the vinyl flooring into the compost bin.
7) Where the coop is well ventilated the well dried manure gives off no noticeable ammonia smell so far.
8) It has been over a month now and I have no need to clean the floor of the coop.
9) My footwear stays cleaner when I enter the coop.

I especially like this method for the warmer months when the hens spend the majority of the time in the run.
I may revert back to the deep litter method through the winter when my hens are confined to the coop. The wire grid may prove taxing to their feet time will tell.

Nest boxes
In my nest boxes I fold my chicken feed bags to fit (nest boxes are 1 ft³). When a bag gets soiled; fold a new one; pop out the soiled; pop in the new. Feed bags are a nylon mesh bag.
Frozen poop just peels off in below freezing temperatures and just flakes off in summer when left out in the sun to bake and dry.

I have 67 trips around the sun it is the best method I have stumbled upon.

Make sure the twine is removed from the open end of the bag it can get tangled around your birds.



I hold the bag in place with these paper binders.

Easy Peas Japaneasy