Why Do You Use Deep Bedding/Why Do You NOT Use Deep Bedding?

[writerskramp]

@Croco Rico nice. Henlady said those don't work for her though. So I recommended something different that works for me.

Used large heated dog bowl for water in the past and it never froze even in subzero weather.. Now use it for fermented fed.. Went back to the 4 gal waterer on a heated pedestal.. Pedestal ain't worth a Islamic schism.. I found that when adding water as I would only fill partially.. with hot tap water. Hot tap water has a heavy metal issue.. but short story short. not often. Puts extra weigh on the heated pedestal contact or volume and works good. but no cigar. Another large heated dog bowl for water would be a plus, but am cheap.. Maybe next year, but have some ideas.. don't get in trouble. As think has that effect.

4 hens..? Congratulations. Have over thirty! Family brings over Easter bunny chickens. They're cute till they jump out of the box. Then I get them.. Wouldn't except chickens from strangers.. No BS here, not dealing with it. Tractor, thought at first you were talking Farmall M.. Have one, and cut the smoke stack to get it through the door. Once the biggest tractor in the world. I have to use a wheel barrel, and a small one to get through the door, with a #2 shovle.. If you drop the litter on the garden with at least a ten day period to planting. You'll be good. 30 days is better.. Till. add or just top.. and plant through. My compost stays cold, don't know.. but the chips make good weed control. I stay away from straw.. to many issues. linoleum..? I've missed that memo.. Dirt.

4 hens..? Congratulations. Have over thirty! Family brings over Easter bunny chickens. They're cute till they jump out of the box. Then I get them.. Wouldn't except chickens from strangers.. No BS here, not dealing with it. Tractor, thought at first you were talking Farmall M.. Have one, and cut the smoke stack to get it through the door. Once the biggest tractor in the world. I have to use a wheel barrel, and a small one to get through the door, with a #2 shovle.. If you drop the litter on the garden with at least a ten day period to planting. You'll be good. 30 days is better.. Till. add or just top.. and plant through. My compost stays cold, don't know.. but the chips make good weed control. I stay away from straw.. to many issues. linoleum..? I've missed that memo.. Dirt.

Sorry for the computer snafu..

 

[countryladyNH]

We personally DO NOT use deep bedding. UGH! Our coop floor space is small and the coop is elevated. We put radiant barrier insulation under the coop floor. In the coop and run we use construction sand and have for years. Mix in a little DE and wood ash. We clean every single day. Scoop up poop with kitty litter scoop. It only takes a few minutes each day. We have never had it smell or had parasites, etc. We do the big coop clean a couple times a year and replenish with fresh sand, but cleaning coop and run each day really keeps things healthy and no odor. It works for us.

 

[notherearenttoomany]

Central Texas chicken keeper.
I use deep bedding up in the coop portion and maybe deep litter in the open run portion. You can be the judge.

The elevated coop has a plywood floor covered with linoleum squares. In hindsight, I think these are unnecessary but I was concerned about moisture rotting the wood. If I notice smell, I sprinkle PDZ over the poop areas (mainly under the roost) and then toss a new layer of shaving over that, perhaps every 3-4 weeks. It’s fairly deep by now so tossing in treats for the girls to do some stirring now and then is sufficient. I put fresh shavings in their laying boxes weekly simply bc I have two that just love to kick it all out and lay on the mat. Every few months, I scrape the heavily soiled bedding from under the roost bars straight into the run. The run has a dirt floor and about 8-10” of shavings. I never put clean shaving in the run, just soiled shaving from the coop is making this deeper. I toss some treats and the girls go nuts. Honestly, they dig down into it so much, it gets turned and mixed. It has definitely broken down and I’m eager to remove some to my compost/dirt pile in the spring for use in the garden. Even if it’s not truly composting (I’m new to this and just don’t know), it’s good dirt and I always need dirt.

Pros, from my perspective:
1. no daily work at all;
2. Smells nice (guests comment on how surprisingly pleasant it is by the coop);
3. low cost—one bale of shaving lasts about 2 months;
4. much cleaner than my former method of putting in, cleaning out regularly.
5. Had minimal flies over the summer—unusual here.
6. Soft landings
7. Gave them something to do when locked in for 5 days during our ice storm—they dug and dug and dug.
8. when I nestled the water down into the bedding in the run, it did not freeze (leading me to believe this is indeed deep litter that is composting and warm).
9. Seriously, the smell. I went from 5 chickens and a very stinky coop that I worked hard to keep up with to 16 (now 12) in deep bedding with less work and no offensive smells

Cons, from my perspective:
1. They kick the shavings out the door since it’s open all day. It’s a mess and my hubby requires I shovel that back in. I’ll put a taller kick board in front of the door this spring.
2. The run never LOOKS fresh and clean. It smells just fine, but I do miss the look of a clean house.
3. Chicken keeping friends don’t believe me that it’s awesome. After I’ve shown off my flock and told all their names/likes/dislikes...I have to reciprocate and I’m required by politeness to stand by their stinky coops to admire their chickens
4. I’ve learned recently that deep bedding likely hosts some nasties like worm eggs that will lead to reinfestation of my flock.

 

[writerskramp]

What would I need to do to make it deep litter method if I have a dirt floor to keep it moist?

Why would you need to keep it moist..? Dry is what you want as do your chicks.. all puns aside. Just shovel it on your garden, or around your ornamental, mental key word.. keep on keeping on.

No one is competing. Everyone's opinion that keeps birds is valid. And mayble clue your family in to the fact that animals are not Easter toys? If you're accepting random easter chicks, the fact that your family handled them first doesn't mean you aren't accepting biorisk onto your farm. Also, no one asked about your Farmall? And you DEFINITELY don't want to put chicken poop on your garden 10 days before planting. Your post was confusing misinformative and somewhat combative. Why?

Critics.. what would life be without them.. Peaceful?.. Competing.. that's what this is .. Know this is a feminine site.. Why is that..? Guys love chicks too.. I am not the Easter Bunny.. but enjoy the candy I can scarf from my Grandchildren. Farmal M is a real tractor.. What you call a tractor is a rickshaw.. Chicken poop is poop.. High in nitrogen which will burn your crop.. but from experience it will work fine.. Status Que is only Status Que because someone said so.. Experience is the best teacher if you survive. Like once an explorer said, "Adventure is a situation you get yourself into and survive to tell the story. That has been my life and I am still here.. Misinformation is not my thing. Combative is.. You got my number. Call me.

 

[Vicker]

Deep pine flake bedding for low maintenance. Occasionally rake out the clumps and top it off with DE and fresh flakes. Use it for compost when I clean it out 2-3 times a year.

 

[Chickenclaude]

I'm putting together an article on using Deep Bedding in a small coop and wanted to make sure I had as complete a list of pros and cons as possible.

I know why I DO use this method and I can think of some reasons others might not want to use it, but I'd like to hear the voices of community experience in order to create a useful article.

Deep Bedding being defined as: A dry, non-composting system where you keep adding bedding to the coop as it becomes soiled -- managing it by turning it as necessary (or getting the chickens to turn it for you) -- and clean it out only infrequently when the bedding has become both thoroughly soiled and piled up to the point of not being able to add more.

I have 6 girls in a 4 x 8 coop w an extra fenced run in floor below. I’ve been adding to the laying boxes every week to keep the eggs clean and when the floor of the upper level begins to smell I shovel it below where there is more fresh air. Maybe I rake it below twice during the winter? And replace wi fresh pine flakes. It does get deep enough to need a board at the doorways to hold bedding in. That keeps the indoor areas smelling good. In the spring I clean out the whole place and start again.

 

[Tilhana]

To me it is a no brainer. I totally clean my coops 2x a year, in fall and in spring. All the shavings go into my compost pile.

I do the same thing, except I use woodchips instead of pine shavings. I live in a heavily wooded area and all I have to do is flag down a public works crew (which I see regularly on the side of the road, especially after a storm), cutting and clearing branches and chipping them, and ask them if they can drop their next truckload in my yard. That gives me a free supply of woodchips that can usually last 6 months.

The only con for me is the time it takes to shovel woodchips into the wheelbarrow and cart it up the hill to my coop, but that's a factor of just how my land is laid out. If I owned the land I could think of several ways of improving the layout to make this less labor intensive but as a renter I'm not inclined to make that kind of investment.

None of my daily chores involve poop.

Amen to that! Also, when I clean out the coop in the spring, I put the used bedding on my garden, and whatever I plant there explodes into a jungle compared with the surrounding area.

 

[ChicNmom]

Deep litter never worked for me. It was either frozen solid in winter so no heat generated or smelly and damp even with adding Coop Clean composting powder.

I have a slide out poop board. I add pine shavings and usually scoop it off every week or two in good weather. In winter it gets cleaned off when we have a break in the weather and it thaws out.

 

[Tilhana]

I think this is deep bedding that you are doing. Seems like semantics but for discussion purpose I think deep litter doesn't have a dirt floor, and doesn't really compost in place. Deep bedding is typically done on a dirt floor, allowing the bedding to compost in place. Requires less, if any, total clean outs. Hope I cleared this up and didn't add to any confusion. Someone PLEASE correct me if I am wrong.

I'm not sure I understand why deep litter on a non-dirt floor wouldn't compost. I'm pretty sure as long as the pile is deep enough and the weather is warm enough, it will compost.

I guess there's the argument that you need a cubic yard of organic material for composting to happen (although I think that volume varies a bit depending on the surrounding air temperature), and you're unlikely to get that without a dirt floor, but honestly, that rule was created by people who think compost needs to be super-charged and super-hot to be considered compost. In reality, thinner layers of organic material WILL eventually compost, it just takes longer because the temperature won't get as high. Also it won't cook the weed seeds or necessarily destroy all pathogens, which are also factors some people really want in their compost.

 

[Tilhana]

For me it's primarily a time issue. Cleaning the coop takes a long time - I assume the people who say it only takes a few minutes a day have a spot right next to their coop where they can dump it. I have to use a wheelbarrow because the coop is a little ways from the garden and compost areas (and no, there's nothing I can do to change that since it's not my land). And it's a narrow pass so each round trip takes a good 5 minutes and a lot of maneuvering, not including the time to scoop. So there's no point in doing small loads.

My census form may say "unemployed," but in reality I'm a nanny, a teacher, a chef, a maid, a farmer, an accountant, and a project manager - I just don't get paid for any of it! I've got about 10-15 minutes to feed and water the chickens every morning before the kids wake up, and 1/3 of the year that's in the snow, so the wheelbarrow is out of commission anyway. I just don't have the time bandwidth to scoop the coop regularly.

That said, I can think of better systems. Once we move to a warmer climate and own our own land, I'm hoping to have a mobile coop with a mesh bottom, at least for most of the year, so instead of cleaning the coop I can just move it every few days, and the poop will fall through the holes onto the ground.