Colorado

[PirateGirl]

Hello Coloradans! I'm in Leadville and just bought 10 baby chicks from TSC the past 2 weeks: 4 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Black sex linked, and 3 barred rock. We are going to build a 4x8 coop and large run soon and I'm going back and forth between a dirt floor or wood floor. We are planning on doing the deep litter method in the coop either way. Any advice from fellow Colorado chicken keepers is greatly appreciated! A little info on the coop area, it will be in the NE corner of our property under a large spruce tree, so it stays relatively dry even during the winter months. Monsoon season in July/Aug is my only concern, but even then the ground dries pretty fast.

In the coop itself I would do a wood floor simply to make it more secure against predators digging in (as well as rodents). This way you will at least have a secure spot you can lock them up overnight.

I have not yet tried deep litter myself and have been skeptical with how well it would work considering how dry it is here as well as how much of the year the ground is frozen. I'm curious to know how it goes. I know with my compost pile it's been an incredibly slow process and much of the year there's not much actual composting going on.

 

[lomine]

Hello to the new folks who have joined us.

Deep litter doesn’t work well on a wood floor. It’s best right on the dirt. I use it in my coop now and at my old house I used it in a covered run. I have a skirt of welded wire to keep things from digging in. At my old house I did have a mouse problem but I left it too long and it got bad. A few weeks of putting down mouse traps and I got them all. Here I don’t have a mouse problem thanks to all the neighborhood cats.

There are going to be times when you need to add water because it will be dry. Mine doesn’t break down very fast but there is no smell, ever. I like that the chickens do all the work of turning and spreading new bedding. And I only need to do a clean out once a year, can’t beat that. For me the only problem is the areas around the buckets because the ducks make it very wet. I have to spread it out and mix it in myself because the chickens won’t scratch if it’s really wet.

 

[kamac27]

In the coop itself I would do a wood floor simply to make it more secure against predators digging in (as well as rodents). This way you will at least have a secure spot you can lock them up overnight.

I have not yet tried deep litter myself and have been skeptical with how well it would work considering how dry it is here as well as how much of the year the ground is frozen. I'm curious to know how it goes. I know with my compost pile it's been an incredibly slow process and much of the year there's not much actual composting going on.

We are lucky in that we don't have many predators or mice/rats around us. House cats and hawks/crows are the 2 predators we have to protect from so i'll be doing wire mesh around the base of the coop and run.

As for the deep litter method, I've read if it gets too dry, as it will in our climate, you can add a little moisture. We have a large compost pile and it is incredibly sloooooow at breaking anything down. I'm hoping the addition of chicken poop will help add the heat it needs to decomposition.

 

[kamac27]

Hello to the new folks who have joined us.

Deep litter doesn’t work well on a wood floor. It’s best right on the dirt. I use it in my coop now and at my old house I used it in a covered run. I have a skirt of welded wire to keep things from digging in. At my old house I did have a mouse problem but I left it too long and it got bad. A few weeks of putting down mouse traps and I got them all. Here I don’t have a mouse problem thanks to all the neighborhood cats.

There are going to be times when you need to add water because it will be dry. Mine doesn’t break down very fast but there is no smell, ever. I like that the chickens do all the work of turning and spreading new bedding. And I only need to do a clean out once a year, can’t beat that. For me the only problem is the areas around the buckets because the ducks make it very wet. I have to spread it out and mix it in myself because the chickens won’t scratch if it’s really wet.

 

[kamac27]

Thanks for the info! Have you experienced any issue during the winter months with too much cold rising up thru the ground into the coop? I would think that deep litter, if working properly, could add heat or at least be a barrier to the cold ground.

 

[ayamEC]

Where/what website is the best place to sell chicks?

 

[MuffMom]

Where/what website is the best place to sell chicks?

Most people check craigslist.

 

[lomine]

Thanks for the info! Have you experienced any issue during the winter months with too much cold rising up thru the ground into the coop? I would think that deep litter, if working properly, could add heat or at least be a barrier to the cold ground.

I haven’t really noticed either way. At my old house, the snow on the deep litter always seemed to melt faster then the snow on the pea gravel. But I don’t know if that says more about deep litter holding heat or pea gravel holding cold. The birds seem to like burrowing down in it so it must be somewhat warm.

 

[Doug in Colorado]

Hi everyone, Doug here. We live in Colo Spgs, in town, so limitations to our flock! We should get our first set of 10 Black Sex Link next week, and we'll start with the brooder.

I was looking at the various on-line options for coops... yikes, it doesn't take much to get to $2K. We have decided to re-purpose our greenhouse into a coop. We'll add lots of ventilation but should work well.

Taking the Buckley's intro course tomorrow (Saturday). Hope to meet some new folks who are into poultry!

Cheers, Doug

 

[PirateGirl]

Hi everyone, Doug here. We live in Colo Spgs, in town, so limitations to our flock! We should get our first set of 10 Black Sex Link next week, and we'll start with the brooder.

I was looking at the various on-line options for coops... yikes, it doesn't take much to get to $2K. We have decided to re-purpose our greenhouse into a coop. We'll add lots of ventilation but should work well.

Taking the Buckley's intro course tomorrow (Saturday). Hope to meet some new folks who are into poultry!

Cheers, Doug

Welcome! It's a little overwhelming at first, but it gets easier and you will love it!