Bedding

[Littlehouseonhansen]

We are in Florida... not much rain. Today yes, but usually no.

 

[PouleChick]

If I understood it correctly from my previous readings of it... do I basically just save the leaves from my yard and shavings... add them to the dirt... keep adding?

Yep that is pretty much it!

 

[PouleChick]

And stir

 

[Littlehouseonhansen]

Stupid question but... my coop is very low to the ground. I am watching You Tube videos and seems like with a lot of the deep litter... they go 12 inches down. Should we be digging below the ground?

Also, should I be mixing in pine shavings when we begin?

 

[Kris5902]

Deep litter looks like a good option for you! Yes, you want to keep adding dry materials until you have a nice layer. You might also want to consider poop boards under the roosts... the produce a lot of night droppings!

 

[Kris5902]

I wouldn’t dig down, if you get any water infiltration you could end up with a soggy moldy mess!

 

[Littlehouseonhansen]

Thank you!! I guess tonight I'll be raking in some leaves for my girls!!!

 

[Littlehouseonhansen]

Since I already have this thread open... My chicks are going to be 6 weeks old next week. Should I keep them on the grow and started chick feed or switch to something else?

 

[ChickNanny13]

You could add to the sides in the run instead of digging down, the chickens will dig down. Mine is open air, when I decided to do DLM I added 2x4s to the base raising the sides of the "run". I now have about 4" of shavings, keep adding as I need, rarely do I remove anything. Maybe once or 2x year I remove the dirt they dig up & spread around my yard. No leaves around here but do add my mowed clippings. It does rain alot here although it's been pretty dry so far, the ground gets saturated & does get wet in there. I remove the wet, dry it on a tarp in the patio & toss back in when dried. The Chicken House is on the high ground but when we have our rain storms, we get days/weeks of rain.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Since I already have this thread open... My chicks are going to be 6 weeks old next week. Should I keep them on the grow and started chick feed or switch to something else?

You can keep them on it, not necessary to change to Layer .... When they start laying just add an separate dish of Oyster Shells. I go from a small bag of Medicated Starter to Flock Raiser with Oyster Shells on the side. No issues with laying nor shells it's been a couple of years now.