Chicken coop and run flooring/bedding material

[teamroper06]

Hello, I have a chicken coop/run that is 4' by 12' that has coop off the ground and is enclosed while the remaining run just has hardware cloth walls. It is not walk in (roughly 4' tall) and I am trying to figure out the best material or method to use to prevent having to clean the coop out all the time and how to clean non walk in coops the easiest way. I have heard about the deep material method and like it but I am not sure if this would work in this situation. The coop and run is not designed to be moved like a chicken tractor (Weighs about 400 lbs). I need yalls expertise and guidance. If you could state material, method, and reason. Working on a budget and don't want to spend a lot on a method that won't work. Thanks again.

 

[21hens-incharge]

What is your climate like?
Including what state you live in on your profile can really really help get you good information.

Here in Colorado we get into the negatives in winter and have heavy snows. In summer 105 is not unusual.

I use pine shavings year round.

many people have a drippings tray or poop board under the roosts. Those get cleaned often but the main coop area stays cleaner so does not need emptied often.

Deep litter in the coop works of the coop has no wood floor.

 

[teamroper06]

What is your climate like?
Including what state you live in on your profile can really really help get you good information.

Here in Colorado we get into the negatives in winter and have heavy snows. In summer 105 is not unusual.

I use pine shavings year round.

many people have a drippings tray or poop board under the roosts. Those get cleaned often but the main coop area stays cleaner so does not need emptied often.

Deep litter in the coop works of the coop has no wood floor.

Hello, thanks for your input. I'm in central texas and the coldest it gets during the winter is maybe single digits for a few hours for a few days. Currently the chickens are just on dirt and grass in the run. My plan was maybe to dig down about 1 foot and fill in with pine shavings (deep bedding method). I don't know if this is necessary. I've never used or seen the poop boards in use but will investigate further. Is straw bad? Trying to learn the dos and don'ts.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Straw can harbor pests like bird mites or bird lice.

You shouldn't need to remove dirt from the run at all. Well at least until it's gardening time and you need some good black gold for the plants.
I think I know someone on here that does the deep litter very successfully. I will tag them to make sure they are your thread.

@lazy gardener
Not sure if it was you or someone else that has the info on deep litter in the run. Can you post your method here for this poster?

@aart can you pop in and post the poop board pics you have?

 

[Macchickenman]

Thanks for this as I am curious also and about to build my first coop for my babies... I was wondering with the run if you need a roof or just hardware cloth... What about rain? The pine wood shavings when wet would not be good for the chickens, would they... Just north of DC... 20 is usually the lowest and 100 the highest.

 

[blackdog043]

Can you post a picture of your coop/run? It will help us to give better advise. I'm not sure if deep litter will be an option for you, but here is a link with a video and also a link for poop boards.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/show-me-your-poop-boards.1207953/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/muddy-run-help-please.1037998/#post-16017992

 

[lazy gardener]

Hi. More information please. If you can include a pic of your coop run set up, both inside coop and out, that would be helpful. If your coop/run is a stacked affair with coop over all of the run, I advise against DLM. DLM works best in a walk in coop. (preferably with a soil floor, but can be done with a conventional floor) IMO, the run also must be walk in in order to successfully manage DLM b/c of the large input of materials that is required. You will also want to enter the run to harvest the compost, which would be a back breaker with a short run.

Basically, DL is a sheet compost made of varied materials (hay, straw, weeds, aged wood chips, spent coop litter, garden debris, leaves) which the birds benefit from by having a job to do: turning and mixing the materials, inputting their feces. They benefit from: beneficial micro and macro organisms which help to manage the pathogens which would proliferate in a bare soil run. Studies have shown that birds on DL have a healthier digestive and immune system, improved feed conversion rate, decreased disease, improved viability.

As for straw harboring mites, I don't buy that one. Mites are carried by mice, rats, squirrels, birds. A coop can become infested with or without straw. yes, straw can harbor mites. But so can any other material, including pine shavings.

Digging down a foot to provide a basin for the DL: Unless you live in a desert, and plan to line that basin with hardware cloth, I don't advise it. IMO, it would provide more problems than it would solve (including moisture retention) ... UNLESS you intend to dig your basin, leave the coop there on DL for a year or two, then move the coop and use that site for a garden. However, if you do so, I warn you: you should stand back and toss your seeds from a distance. When those seeds hit that fertile bed, they will explode with growth.

 

[aart]

@aart can you pop in and post the poop board pics you have?

-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.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

-Runs have semi-deep litter, never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials.

-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 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 4 years.

 

[Eronica]

What is your climate like?
Including what state you live in on your profile can really really help get you good information.

Here in Colorado we get into the negatives in winter and have heavy snows. In summer 105 is not unusual.

I use pine shavings year round.

many people have a drippings tray or poop board under the roosts. Those get cleaned often but the main coop area stays cleaner so does not need emptied often.

Deep litter in the coop works of the coop has no wood floor.

So the deep litter method needs flooring inside the coop and not wood? My chicken coop is all wood, why can't it? What would happen?

 

[21hens-incharge]

So the deep litter method needs flooring inside the coop and not wood? My chicken coop is all wood, why can't it? What would happen?

I think you misunderstood what I said.

I'll put it another way.....

For deep litter to work it depends on microbes in soil. That means if it is above ground like on any kind of floor it cannot function.
If it is on concrete, wood, or any kind of floor there is a barrier preventing microbes and the good bugs that feed off the litter from reaching it.