Deep bedding

[DMOTS]

So, early months.
I'll assume your birds are that old and this is your first year chickeneering?

Great!

I think these are still viable:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3/?prefix_id=3
Lots of info here too:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3/

I have raised chickens off and on for many years. It has been several years since the last time. We moved to a new place and there was only dirt, weeds and rocks. We started all over and built from scratch so we were not ready for chickens until the beginning of this year. This time we jumped in full speed. During my research, I ran into the hemp product. We are not moving or building again. We have 5 kids and 14 grandchildren.

 

[4sweetones]

I have the deep liter system using the HEMP product. 6 months so far and no smell at all. This will last over a year before i clean it. It decomposes right away and begins breaking down the smell as soon as it drops. LOL. If you are not using the Hemp product for your deep litter system then you are waisting your money and spend way too much time tending to it. FYI - I have 20 chickens in a 6' x 8' coop and it works great. I have absolutely no smell at all. I am a firm believer in this product.

Where can one purchase HEMP product?

 

[DMOTS]

Where can one purchase HEMP product?

I get it from New Country Organics website newcountryorganics.com You can order it online from them. It's $21.95 plus shipping. I live in Ca. so it cost more for shipping. They are distributors for Old Dominion Hemp. Their website is odhemp.com Old Dominion is the manufacturer. I only have to change it once a year so it is worth the money for what the product does.

 

[Big Dipper]

Thanks for the information.

 

[Lightning Bob]

I’ve had really good luck with a product called Koop Clean from Lucerne Farms, out of Maine. It sounds similar to the hemp product discussed and is priced similarly. I just add it to the nest boxes and the hens kick it out into the coop, then mix it all up. Once a year or so, we clean most of it out and it goes right into the garden - perfect mulch, mostly composted already. It also keeps the eggs much cleaner than when I used wood shavings (which I do use in the run).

 

[Little Chickadee]

I have the deep liter system using the HEMP product. 6 months so far and no smell at all. This will last over a year before i clean it. It decomposes right away and begins breaking down the smell as soon as it drops. LOL. If you are not using the Hemp product for your deep litter system then you are waisting your money and spend way too much time tending to it. FYI - I have 20 chickens in a 6' x 8' coop and it works great. I have absolutely no smell at all. I am a firm believer in this product.

Where do you get it? Never heard of it before. Yes, I could google it but would prefer human interaction via personal recommendation!

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Mine is also plywood with hardware cloth underneath the plywood. One sheet of linoleum is my flooring on top of the plywood. Makes for easy cleanup in the spring, the shovel just slides underneath everything.

Mine is the same and has worked well since the beginning of July since it was put it. I have poop boards but I plan to use the deep litter method also. I just try to keep things as clean as I can when I can because I live in the South and the heat is such a challenge. So far I am loving this setup all around and am so glad we went this route. The birds seem to leave it too.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

I cannot make anything out of your pictures much Mewcycle other than it looks like a Fort Knox for Chickens. You have a chicken maze going on for sure. Definite entertainment and a way for them to keep from getting caught quickly. They look very secure. I just cannot see the chickens for the shadow of the sun rather the overcast of it depending on what time of the day you took the pictures and I could not see much because of it. Sorry. I don’t mean to be critical or judgemental. It looks like you have a great deal of space in these areas to work with. Maybe you could retake the pictures bin earlier morning or when it’s a little overcast so we could see better?

 

[electrycmonk]

The terms 'deep litter' and 'deep bedding' are often misunderstood and misapplied.
I've always liked this explanation:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-method-with-this-coop.1075545/#post-16440037

So I'm not sure which of these terms I have actually occuring in our coop..

The 1st & only cleanout of the coop this year (June 2020) is Post #50 here in my coop build thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/our-coop-run-in-north-texas.1342255/page-5

You can see that from page 1 of this thread it's a cement floor & it seems to stay rather dry. The poop boards are normally scooped out every day onto the DLM floor, or is it actually DBM?
I don't really notice much of a smell in the coop.

 

[electrycmonk]

This was an existing old coop (on the property we just acquired) that was previously being used to house stainless steel sinks full of strawberry plants. I removed the sinks but left the frames that were holding them. The hens like those. We added a run out the back and a chicken door. We added some roofing but need to address the leaks. And we plan to add siding halfway up to help keep rain from splashing into the coop. But for now, this is where we are. Been here a couple months. So it is progress! Thanks for having a look. View attachment 2354621View attachment 2354622View attachment 2354623View attachment 2354625View attachment 2354626View attachment 2354627

Geographically curious.... Where a'rt thou?