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!

 

[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?

 

[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]

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.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

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?

It’s a 12x6 the height is 8ft and they stay up in the rafters so I cannot use a poop board. It’s made of pallets so they roost all over the place. We unfortunately don’t have any cool resources for local shavings and a majority of our trees we cut down are cedar so they can’t have that. It’s not wet but the shavings are visibly dirty.

 

[fuzzi]

It’s a 12x6 the height is 8ft and they stay up in the rafters so I cannot use a poop board. It’s made of pallets so they roost all over the place. We unfortunately don’t have any cool resources for local shavings and a majority of our trees we cut down are cedar so they can’t have that. It’s not wet but the shavings are visibly dirty.

What about lawn mower clippings?

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

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.

Unfortunately we use the leaves to help the grass regrow because we have a major washout anytime it rains due to lack of drainage at the road (yay country living). I was reading straw is the worst you can use? Maybe everything I’ve read is wrong! Lol the eggs are poopy from the hens walking on the dirty shavings then hopping up in the nest box and transferring the poop from their feet.
Cannot do poop boards due to the construction of our coop. Our whole yard is one big dust mess in the summer when everything gets really dry (central Arkansas misery) I can’t imagine anything being worse.
I just read they absorb much better.
We’re having an attack of Buffalo flies so I’m trying to figure out what to do. They aren’t in the coop thankfully but even with the fly traps I feel bad for the chickens. I’m just at a loss. It always smells except the 1st day or 2 after being cleaned once it starts to smell no matter what I do it never is clean enough til we clear it out completely. I wanted to add charcoal from our fire pit but someone keeps throwing glass bottles into it

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

What about lawn mower clippings?

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.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Maybe this is crazy but are you able to build a better coop to suit your situation? You could likely reuse a lot of the current materials. But having a better roosting/nesting situation so you can have poop free eggs and non muddy floor seems important

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

Maybe this is crazy but are you able to build a better coop to suit your situation? You could likely reuse a lot of the current materials. But having a better roosting/nesting situation so you can have poop free eggs and non muddy floor seems important

There is definitely no way. We’re pretty proud of our coop and get tons of compliments it’s just trying to figure out the litter situation that’s driving me insane.