Best Litter?? Struggling after years

[ChicFil- A]

I’ve currently use the deep litter method and I am pleased with the results, My litter never gets above 8 inches, the chickens keep it dig up and shredded, I toss handfuls of corn and they go to work.. Never an odor, Do you keep your coop dry? It’s best to keep it dry, There’s a misunderstanding of how to add the dry straw when to rake and when to add more substraight. by adding fresh straw or chips covers the mess and it’s just composts and redistributes… any way good luck!!!!

 

[ChicFil- A]

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.

may I ask where you find hemp? I would love to try it

 

[Stephoney]

Hi! I started using hemp several years ago in our 21x16 foot greenhouse/indoor run. I used pine and a chip drop load before, but was really unhappy with it. Originally, I purchased hemp off Amazon. It was very pricey, but I was much happier with the nesting boxes. No poop on eggs. Clean feet. Not much dust and no smell. I was hooked!

I did some Googling and found someone 3 hours south of me in Oregon selling it. Bonus- no tax I purchased 7 bales. It was pricey, but not as much as if I had to keep buying more and more pine all year long. I spread the hemp all over the floor of the greenhouse about 2 inches thick. Worked like a charm! The hens scratched and pecked like normal. Everything is very dry and smell-free. People are always surprised when I take them to the coop. I’ve read that some people mix hemp and pine together. I haven’t tried that so I can’t say how well it works. It would stretch the hemp out though.

If you’re interested in trying hemp, I would look for someone selling it local or close enough to pickup. Just google ‘hemp bedding near me’ and see what pops up. You can also check facebook farm groups near you. I worked with a facebook farm group person who supplies fresh milled food and all sorts of livestock supplies along the WA coast. She hooked up with a hemp distributor and now offers it to her group members. Maybe you have someone offering it near you. I would get several bales to start with. Mine are 33 pounds. Maybe check with Auboise to see if they can tell you where they distribute (Auboise USA). Maybe there’s someone close by.

 

[NewChickenmama06]

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.

Ok I took your advice and blocked off the areas where they were roosting today. We put a roosting board up and we are using the tarp method under it. I just went in to check on them and only 3 of 18 are even on the roost. Some are on the floor and the rest are on the nesting boxes (which of course is going to get them a pooped on). How do I get them to go on the roost?

 

[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.

 

[NewChickenmama06]

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.

Update:
So the first night was a complete nightmare. They were literally flying into the chicken wire I put up and ripped down a temporary tarp I hung to avoid them getting over the door into the brooder. They were roosting on one of the 2x4's we put up for the heat lamp. It was chicken mayhem! Last night they got into the brooder again, but it was much easier to get them on the roosting board.
I will say that aside from the "training" the poop tarp is working out fantastic.

 

[Coffetym]

I really wish gumballs from maple trees would be great but those things do not break down and we have a million in the yard. We did fence off an area of our yard for the above ground pool maybe I can get a push mower and do that area. i Guess something is better then nothing

Just thought you might want to know, if the gum balls you are talking about is about the size of a quarter & has little spikes, that’s not a maple tree but a sweet gum tree. Yes, they are messy.

 

[Greaner_pastures]

I’ve currently use the deep litter method and I am pleased with the results, My litter never gets above 8 inches, the chickens keep it dig up and shredded, I toss handfuls of corn and they go to work.. Never an odor, Do you keep your coop dry? It’s best to keep it dry, There’s a misunderstanding of how to add the dry straw when to rake and when to add more substraight. by adding fresh straw or chips covers the mess and it’s just composts and redistributes… any way good luck!!!!

Do you use fine shavings or regular sized ones? I have 4 chickens about 6 1/2 weeks old and i am going to start introducing them to the coop in next few days during the day only but also want to partake in DLM.

TYIA

 

[ChicFil- A]

Do you use fine shavings or regular sized ones? I have 4 chickens about 6 1/2 weeks old and i am going to start introducing them to the coop in next few days during the day only but also want to partake in DLM.

TYIA

Hello … I use chopped fodder it comes in a bale, It’s at TSC or and feed store, I start with about 3 inches of the straw and spread it under their roost, as the straw and poop gets deposited and scratched in as it gets stomped down add more straw and neaten thing up, I love this method it’s odorless and very easy to handle and it seems to disappear… Good luck!

 

[GCrumb]

Straw from the feed store here often has oats and weed seeds in it. So we give it to the chickens to clean up and kick around their run, and sometimes take it away before it gets too poopy to use for garden mulch. Or it goes into a hot compost if it did get too poopy. We're pretty lacadasical about it, but the dry climate makes it possible to to thaat without getting smells.

In some number of years I'll move the 20'x30' chicken run over and see if the spot where it was makes a good garden patch, we have very poor soil.