Best Litter?? Struggling after years

[Clucktown]

Hemp

Amazon

 

[Clucktown]

where do you buy your hemp? thanks

Amazon

 

[Koleta]

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!

I have never been a fan of the deep litter method. After trying it for a year, I went back to my standard cleaning weekly.
Even when I turned it and the chickens helped, there was still ammonia build up. Sawdust cakes up then hardens and respiratory issues. All because of the deep litter. Living in the high (85+ %) humidity makes no mold in deep litter an impossibility. My chickens are in Coop and run about 4 to 6 hours before they are let out to free range from 11 ish am till the go to roost in the evening.
So 1 time per week, I muck it out, sprinkle a little lime on the floor and put down fresh hay... top it with a few sprinkles of eucalyptus oil and have a fresh clean coop. I always have Clean chickens and clean eggs.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

Even when I turned it and the chickens helped, there was still ammonia build up.

Living in the high (85+ %) humidity makes no mold in deep litter an impossibility.

Ammonia odor and mold are symptoms of inadequate ventilation.

I live in the Steamy Southeast of the USA, central North Carolina, where 95F and 95% humidity are not uncommon and never have any issues with either ammonia or mold in my coops.

Repecka Illustrates Coop Ventilation

Sawdust cakes up then hardens and respiratory issues.

This is one of the major reasons that sawdust is not generally recommended as a primary bedding (though it can work as one component in a mixed material bedding). Coarse-flake shavings work better since they resist packing better than most single-component beddings.

I like a mix of materials of different composition and texture in my coops.

Using Deep Bedding in a Small Coop

a few sprinkles of eucalyptus oil

Eucalyptus oil is a respiratory irritant, much like Eastern Red Cedar.

IMO, opening up more ventilation is the best solution to odor in the chicken coop.

 

[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.

 

[Chikn-Wisperer]

where do you buy your hemp? thanks

On amazon. I see they have aubi chick (the best?) but nearly $100 a bag now. Anyways, we get the cheaper stuff, and it works fine. Also, Carolina Coops is marketing hemp for cheaper, maybe not the cheapest, but I like their stuff.

 

[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.

 

[NewChickenmama06]

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.

When I was doing research on sand as litter, almost all if them said you needed to change it out once a year, leave it in the outside elements to get clean for a year, then switch it out with the sand in the coop. I am new at the whole litter thing. We just always used wood shavings.

 

[3KillerBs]

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.

One of the reasons I don't use sand is that it accumulates poop dust over time.

Unlike organic litter, that dust can't compost.

As long as it remains perfectly dry it's not really a sanitation problem, but it's probably a good idea to get rid of it from time to time.

 

[Imataken]

I've tried all different types of bedding in my chicken coops and duck houses woodchips were great in all my runs however in the coops shavings straw coffee grounds nothing was making me happy. Until I started using hemp bedding it's been over a year now and I'm still completely satisfied. I use a kitty litter scooper sift out just the soiled bedding a 33 pound bags lasted me over 10 months with ducks and chickens anyone with ducks knows they are pooping machines. I used to spend so much money on bedding now I buy 1 or 2 33 pound bags a year. It's absorbs better no smell natural bug deterrent.