Best Litter?? Struggling after years

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

Hey,

I have a 12ftx6ftx8ft coop where my 25 chickens free range all day long. However after years of having chickens I’ve never been satisfied with the litter situation. I attempt deep litter but I can only get 6-7 inches deep and I know it requires a least a foot deep. I feel like I’m spending hundreds in shavings to constantly add, turn and then ultimate have to clean out my coop 2-3x a year and I could even bump that up to doing it more. I added in sweet PDZ but it’s still disgusting in there. The chickens won’t turn it and it’s a huge chore to turn the shavings as even after a few days they are compacted down. My chickens are getting the eggs poopy from the floor and I’m just tired of throwing shavings at it and nothing working.
I originally was thinking sand but it will be an expensive route but if it’s cleaner I’m not above the cost. I’ve also seen pellets being more absorbent. I’m just at a loss and everyone says how simple deep bedding is and how clean and how little time consuming it is but I’m at the point of giving up completely. SOS - need help!

 

[Percheron chick]

Free is the best litter out there. Leaves, pine needles, wood chips, straw... Using just shavings won't do any composting and will pack down without chickens or you fluffing it up. There is nothing in them that is edible. Pine needles or wood chips will provide air spaces necessary for decomposition.
I would simply add to the shavings. Throw in a few bags of leaves, throw your compostable kitchen scraps in to get the girls working and stirring things up. Sit back. It doesn't happen overnight. What is making it disgusting? Why are the eggs poopy? Are they not being laid in a nest box? Do you have poop boards?
The pelleted bedding is compressed saw dust. I think it makes things dustier overtime as it expands.

 

[aart]

You'd need to block access to the high 'roosts'(chicken wire attached to the bottoms of rafters would do the trick) and make the poop board roosts the highest to be attained.


What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
- Large flake pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.
That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 9 years.

 

[Judy Todd]

Our lawn is so large we don’t even bag it.
We live on 40 acres. Probably about 1-2acres of mowing we do the rest is deep woods.

I know this is alot of work, but, I mow with my tractor, belly mower about 2 acres plus and then winnow with the tractor after. Then I rake up the rows and dump it in the outdoor pen. Works great to keep things mostly clean. Yes, work, but I tellmyself I do not need to work out. And I am 84, good exersize for me. Of course only works when I am mowing in the spring and summer.

 

[nuthatched]

I've never seen any deep litter that needs to be a foot deep, mine is about 6".
I use straw and often throw scratch in coop to encourage the girls to kick.

 

[Percheron chick]

Shoot some pictures of the inside of the coop.
Look into services like Chip Drop who will deliver loads of wood chips for free ( or a nice tip). County and city yards often hand out mulch this time of year. Might find a tree service on CL who needs a place to dump. What's the protein level of their diet? You shouldn't be having odor issues that fast. Do you have drainage issues? Mud? How about vents down low to draw air over the poop to dry it out faster and vent through the roof?

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

You don't need a foot deep for deep litter, it totally depends on your situation. I cleaned out my coop for the first time since September and there was only about 7" of bedding in there after all that time. I use a mix of wood chips from a local woodworker and shredded paper that I just shred mail and newspapers as I don't need them. Worked great. Is your coop 12x6 or 12x8? Not height but length and width. Are you turning the bedding occasionally and if so is it staying dry or is it just sopping wet in there? Maybe you need a poop board?

 

[saysfaa]

Give them a few days to figure out it out. They may have tried to get to up into the rafters until it was too dark to see what their other options are.

Or go out after dark and move them to the roost for a few days... I would do that for the ones on the nest box at least.

 

[3KillerBs]

Are you doing deep litter, the moist, actively-composting method that is best used over a dirt floor, or deep bedding, the dry, non-composting method where you have to build the compost pile after you clean out the coop and let it work there?

My article on the latter: Using Deep Bedding in a Small Coop

 

[dirkandlorie]

I am having the exact same issue in my coop. We did the deep fill method over the winter months. I tried to spot clean here and there, but still have poopy eggs and my girls refused to use nesting boxes and lay on the floor in a corner of the coop. My coop is a converted 10X16 shed and we have the same issue as you were with the perch at night. We even added a low perch and they refuse to use it so adding poop boxes wouldn't work. I was going to use sand, but my husband poo pooed (no pun intended lol) the idea because of weight and us needing to change it once a year. To heavy for us to move. I need ideas too as to what to use for litter after the big Spring coop clean out. Got some from this thread. Leaves, grass clippings and wood chips? Do they just go on the coop floor? How do you clean it? Sorry, only been a chicken mama for 4 years and still have much to learn about the coop thing.

I'm confused, why would you need to change the sand every year? I've had the same sand in my coop for 9 years, once every couple years I need to add a bag, but I've never removed any. Only in the coop, the run is my compost ing area, can't have sand where water could get to it.