Deep bedding vs Deep Litter?

[efowl24]

Can someone help me understand the difference between these a little better? I've been using coffee grounds for my bedding and I'm just not loving it as much as I initially was. The grounds don't provide enough traction for my chickens when the jump off the roosting bars, and they seem to slip around on it. That, and I have found random spots of a dusty mold almost every time I clean it. And its $$$. So, I am wanting to switch to something else. I am looking at adding pine chips instead, and maybe just keeping the coffee on the poop shelves to easily scoop. Would wood chips even work on the poop shelves, since they don't have that big of a lip to get it 4-6 inches deep? It is my current understanding that Deep litter is more of a compost situation that the chickens turn under when they naturally scratch, where as deep bedding is literally just a thick layer of bedding. My coop floor is plywood that I covered with linoleum. Some sources say this is not suitable for deep litter, and a dirt floor is needed for deep litter (i.e. compost). Since the weather is going to get colder soon, I thought one of these would provide them with a bit more insulation for cold weather. How often is either one cleaned? Are they cleaned the same? Adding a 4-6 inch layer of shavings and adding when smelly? Are they actually different, or more or less the same?

Can anyone help me understand these a bit more, and which one would work best for me?

 

[thecatumbrella]

I think you have the right idea, or at least that's how I understand the difference. I do have a couple recommendations. PDZ works really, really well in a poop shelf. I use just a thin layer in my Omlet droppings tray, and it keeps things dry and odor-free as long as I scoop daily. Easy to find in store as well.

For extra floor insulation, I really like hemp. It dries out poop even better than sand IMO, but is lightweight and lower dust. It is expensive, which is probably a barrier for some, but it lasts way longer than traditional pine shavings.

 

[Ted Brown]

Ditto on the use of PDZ, cleaned frequently out to a compost heap.

Along with the drop boards & PDZ I use pine shavings for deep bedding in the coop. I change it once per year whether it needs it or not.

No mess, no smell, no flies. Lots of dust.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Are they actually different, or more or less the same?

This is a great post by @Ridgerunner who explains the differences in detail.

Post in thread 'Deep Litter' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/deep-litter.1549684/post-26181478

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Can someone help me understand the difference between these a little better? I've been using coffee grounds for my bedding and I'm just not loving it as much as I initially was. The grounds don't provide enough traction for my chickens when the jump off the roosting bars, and they seem to slip around on it. That, and I have found random spots of a dusty mold almost every time I clean it. And its $$$. So, I am wanting to switch to something else. I am looking at adding pine chips instead, and maybe just keeping the coffee on the poop shelves to easily scoop. Would wood chips even work on the poop shelves, since they don't have that big of a lip to get it 4-6 inches deep? It is my current understanding that Deep litter is more of a compost situation that the chickens turn under when they naturally scratch, where as deep bedding is literally just a thick layer of bedding. My coop floor is plywood that I covered with linoleum. Some sources say this is not suitable for deep litter, and a dirt floor is needed for deep litter (i.e. compost). Since the weather is going to get colder soon, I thought one of these would provide them with a bit more insulation for cold weather. How often is either one cleaned? Are they cleaned the same? Adding a 4-6 inch layer of shavings and adding when smelly? Are they actually different, or more or less the same?

Can anyone help me understand these a bit more, and which one would work best for me?

The most basic of basics is that deep bedding, or any kind of bedding, refers to what is in your coop/ henhouse area, where the chickens sleep at night. These often (certainly not always) have non-dirt floors: plywood, etc. They get a heavy poop burden at night, which includes urates. (Not “pirates”, thanks so much, iPhone.)

Deep litter, or any kind of litter, refers to what you have out in the run, the predator-protected area which still has some version of walls, letting the birds run around, but not out in the open yard. This generally has some version of dirt underneath, although it might be concrete, which has issues.

Having said that, people toss these terms around fast and loose, so be aware of that when you read advice.

Deep bedding (in the coop) generally relies on dry composting, where the poop dries up and turns to dust. You would generally want to have a form of zeolite, like PDZ, to keep the ammonia etc. under control, but the poop will rot down eventually.

Deep litter (in the run) is usually over native soil (dirt), and it is a form of ongoing composting, where the browns (carbons) are represented by things like dried, chopped-up leaves, dried pine needles (pine straw), pine flakes, and wood chips, while the greens (nitrogens) are generously supplied by chicken poop and fresh-cut grass. If your run has a roof, you will probably need to spray the litter with water occasionally to help the composting along. You can turn over the litter occasionally if you like, but really, the chickens will do a much better job if you periodically divert some of their feed and toss it on the ground, and they will happily stir the litter for you.

I have an ugly plastic but effective Nestera coop, so I don’t have anything useful to share about bedding.

But I LOVE deep litter, because I believe in creating environmental conditions for my chickens that are as close as possible to their original natural settings, and deep litter recreates the forest floors of their ancestries.

Also, with deep litter you will get killer compost as a result.