Deep Bedding Method vs DLM? + Question about Water Misting

itsacakewalk · Jun 9, 2018

Hi! I have four 13-week old EEs and live in SoCal, where the weather is always sunny. In the summer however, the temp goes from a consistent 85-90 to the occasional 100+.

The shaded 8x8x8 run is currently sits on a large flat area of playground sand which I tried to convert into DLM by throwing 5" of straw on top. Living in a fairly dry area, the chicken poop dries up quickly and the straw (when scratched or mixed) allows for it to fall in the sand layer.

I was told this isn't DLM anymore but instead called Deep Bedding Method since everything is kept dry. However, that brings up questions. For instance, does the poop not become composted, and do I need to move it to a compost pile? How should I clean my run? Currently I just toss scratch around the run and once every 2 weeks stir everything manually. I'm expecting to change out the straw once a year or so, but Im wondering if I need to make an effort to mix or throw out the sand too.

For the summer I also wanted to install water misters to the top of my run. Would this compromise the DBM thing I have going on?

lillithlix · Jun 9, 2018

Everything that I've read on here tells me this is likely to end up smelly and mouldy if you add the misters.

Straw takes a long time to break down and has a tendency to matt together and mould.
Wet sand, with a large amount of poop, tends to stink.

Deep bedding tends to be a dry system.
Deep litter method a moist system.

Deep bedding tends to be one type of thing such as straw or pine shavings.
Deep litter method recreates the forest floor with a variety of types and sizes of carbon matter. Leaves, wood chips, shavings, twigs, sticks, mulch. The nitrogen from the chicken poo binds to the carbons and composts in place.

If you want to use those misters, I recommend looking more into DLM.

I'm sure there are other knowledgeable people who can give you more advice.

lazy gardener · Jun 9, 2018

You can use the misters. I suggest you do it in one section of the run, and see how it goes. You can add grass clippings, garden debris, spent bedding from the coop.