Composting litter

[Agilityscots]

Wait, why can't you do the deep litter method if you have a door next to the floor? Just curious. I don't think I'm brave enough to do the deep litter method...isn't it disgustingly dirty? And smelly? Seems like it would be a hotbed for disease, literally.

Amy

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
The litter just flows out the door... Our people door is at floor level. I built our coop like an 8x8 utility shed, so future owners could use it as a garden/storage shed. I just put a 1x8 across the bottom of the door to keep the litter in. The hen door is higher, the hens don't care.

It's not dirty or smelly. The manure just gets mixed in, dries out and breaks down into small pieces. It's not smelly as long as the litter is kept dry. If it gets wet it starts creating ammonia. Studies have shown that its actually healthier for the chickens than completely sanitizing the coop every so often. The deep litter actually harbors an ecosystem of beneficial little critters that help to counteract all of the bad little critters that can cause problems, as nature intended.

 

[usalbrechts]

Hey Pattycake....
My chicken door is close to the floor as well. We secured a "litter board" (6 in tall piece of plywood), at the bottom of both the chicken door and the door to the coop to keep the shavings in. It works pretty well. The chickens don't have trouble getting in and out.

 

[Agilityscots]

Okay, I guess that makes sense. And I've now realized why my litter just FALLS OUT THE STUPID CHICKEN DOOR!

I wish I had known about this BEFORE we built the coop. Ugh. I wonder if there's a way we can modify it...our chicken door is on the floor and the shavings end up spilling out into the run.

So do you just add shavings occasionally? How often?

Amy

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
I throw in a bail of shavings to start and then just stir the litter with a rake every now and again if manure starts piling up on top. After it gets really loaded down with manure I throw in another bail to add a fresh layer. Maybe every 6 weeks? I don't know, I just add a fresh layer when I think it needs it.

 

[homecatmom]

I'm with Amy, I thought it would smell. I'm willing to give it a try however. Is there somewhere on the site where they write about it? Mine will eventually go from HH to compost bin.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

If you want to read more just go to google and type in "deep litter method". There is not much to it. Just quit cleaning so much and let it pile up until you feel like shoveling it out into the compost pile. Maybe it was just invented by lazy poultrymen?

Outside of that it does have its benefits to the birds. By sterilizing the coop too much you get rid of beneficial bacteria and critters. Broiler raisers have found that they have less mortality by starting new batches of chicks on old (but maintained) litter than with sterilizing the broiler houses between batches. The chicks are exposed to pathogens that they can start building immunities to right away and the good critters halp balance the bad critters. The little buggies living in the litter also help to provide extra protein to their diets.

 

[peepkeeper]

Yay! A scientifically proven and researched method that enables me to be a slobby chicken owner!

Here's to not cleaning!

 

[Agilityscots]

Quote:

Amy

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Here are my compost pages:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/compost.php


http://www.nifty-stuff.com/compost-sifter-screen-sieve.php

I've often found that composting is almost an art as much as science. More or less I do deep litter method with my hens and if you keep it dry it actually doesn't smell at all (but get it wet and woohooo amonia).

I always expected that the mix of "greens" (nitrogen rich poop) and "browns" (pine shavings) would be a perfect mix for getting a pile of compost to cook... but it doesn't always work that way for me. I wonder if the problem is that I have too much "greens". The ratio is (from what I read) 4-1 or up to 8-1 for browns to greens to get a pile cooking.

Once I did a mix (wish I remembered the ratio) of cut grass, chicken litter, and shredded office paper. Boy did that pile cook. I got it up to 160 degrees in the middle.

My other problem / question is having the pile cook or having worms. The two seem mutually exclusive since the worms don't like 130 degree temps in a compost pile.

(I think we really need to add a gardening section to the forum).