I wanted to fluff up the deep litter in the coop today. I was thinking about my options and believe I came up with the (almost) perfect tool for the job. First of all, at my age, I always think about protecting my back. So I either limit the amount I try to lift, or I look for a tool that helps me do the job. The job today, was to fluff up the deep litter which is a way of cleaning the bedding. The litter in my 6X12 coop is about 6 inches deep.
My first option was to use a shovel. But turning over the bedding with a shovel was slow going and the wood chip bedding is a bit heavier than just pine shavings like I used in the brooder.
My second option was to use a hay fork, which is like a pitch fork but has many more tines. Like the shovel, this too was slow going and a fork full of wood chips can get heavy after a short while. Also, I did not want to snag and rip the linoleum on the bottom of the coop. So, with both the shovel and hay fork, I had to be very careful not to stick the tool too far down into the bedding and rip the lineoleum.
My third option was to use my small Ryobi 18v garden cultivator.
Turns out, this was the perfect tool for me. As you can see, it is not a tiller. The cultivator tines go down about 4 inches. They have a back and forth motion, so it is like stirring up the soil, or in this case, the bedding. Not only was this tool really fast in fluffing up the bedding, but it also keep the dust down due to the back and forth motion and not lifting and dropping the bedding. I was so impressed with the service of this cultivator, that I thought I would post it for anyone else who is maintaining their deep bedding and maybe looking for a better option than a shovel or pitch fork. It's a back saver.
The bad news is that Ryobi no longer sells this P2701 18v Cultivator, but there are other brands out there selling similar cultivators. I bought my cultivator a few years ago, and it is only good for fluffing up already tilled soil. If you need to break sod, this is not the tool for that job. This cultivator is my main tool in my raised garden beds. I also have small powered tillers, but I did not want to use them in the coop because I was afraid they would quickly dig down into the wood chip bedding and rip up the linoleum.
In summary, this Ryobi 18v cultivator was able to fluff up all the deep litter bedding in my 6X12 coop in a few minutes, did not raise much dust at all, and I had to lift zero bedding and put no strain on my back.
My first option was to use a shovel. But turning over the bedding with a shovel was slow going and the wood chip bedding is a bit heavier than just pine shavings like I used in the brooder.
My second option was to use a hay fork, which is like a pitch fork but has many more tines. Like the shovel, this too was slow going and a fork full of wood chips can get heavy after a short while. Also, I did not want to snag and rip the linoleum on the bottom of the coop. So, with both the shovel and hay fork, I had to be very careful not to stick the tool too far down into the bedding and rip the lineoleum.
My third option was to use my small Ryobi 18v garden cultivator.
Turns out, this was the perfect tool for me. As you can see, it is not a tiller. The cultivator tines go down about 4 inches. They have a back and forth motion, so it is like stirring up the soil, or in this case, the bedding. Not only was this tool really fast in fluffing up the bedding, but it also keep the dust down due to the back and forth motion and not lifting and dropping the bedding. I was so impressed with the service of this cultivator, that I thought I would post it for anyone else who is maintaining their deep bedding and maybe looking for a better option than a shovel or pitch fork. It's a back saver.
The bad news is that Ryobi no longer sells this P2701 18v Cultivator, but there are other brands out there selling similar cultivators. I bought my cultivator a few years ago, and it is only good for fluffing up already tilled soil. If you need to break sod, this is not the tool for that job. This cultivator is my main tool in my raised garden beds. I also have small powered tillers, but I did not want to use them in the coop because I was afraid they would quickly dig down into the wood chip bedding and rip up the linoleum.
In summary, this Ryobi 18v cultivator was able to fluff up all the deep litter bedding in my 6X12 coop in a few minutes, did not raise much dust at all, and I had to lift zero bedding and put no strain on my back.
