Deep litter— what should it look like?

[3KillerBs]

I love you 3KB's! Thank you! You know I'm nutty when it comes to my chickens, lol

My sister, who keeps reptiles, gave me a colony of Dubia roaches to raise for chicken snacks.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

My sister, who keeps reptiles, gave me a colony of Dubia roaches to raise for chicken snacks.

Dont you even get me started! I remember you mentioning that last year when i inquired about ordering grasshoppers for the winter...... I'm not there yet, but dont put it past me... dubia roaches you say.....

 

[3KillerBs]

Dont you even get me started! I remember you mentioning that last year when i inquired about ordering grasshoppers for the winter...... I'm not there yet, but dont put it past me... dubia roaches you say.....

They thrive on all-flock feed and random pieces of fruit.

 

[MROO]

Dont you even get me started! I remember you mentioning that last year when i inquired about ordering grasshoppers for the winter...... I'm not there yet, but dont put it past me... dubia roaches you say.....

Nah - unless you can get other buggie critters for free, the cheapest and easiest to raise are mealworms. All you need is a container of untreated/unmedicated meal worms from your local pet supplier, some plain, dry rolled oats, a slice of apple and a box. You can even just poke some air holes in the large rolled oat box and use that! Let the first batch mature to non-invasive and totally harmless beetles and you'll have a self-renewing snack source in no time. For more detailed instructions, there are LOADS of good mealworm raising artic les right here on BYC.

EDIT to ADD: I gave up on one batch when I had company coming and Grandma in-SIS-ted that I lose the bugs on my kitchen counter. I put a handful of mature worms in a small container at the back of my fridge and turned the rest of the colony loose in the run. The chickens had a FIELD DAY! And no, it wasn't an environmental hazard, as they are native to my area, anyway. Personally, I think I would have rather seen the reactions of guests who explored my "Do Not Touch" pasta bowl colony, instead. That could have been VERY entertaining!

 

[Chick-n-lily]

I'm not a fan of deep litter, or deep bedding. Ideally there should be no need for bedding on the coop floor. The chickens should be roosting on perches so bedding would seem unecessary except in the nest boxes. Currently I have a few that do sleep on the coop floor and I provided a thin layer of bedding for comfort.
The deep bedding idea is reliant on the bedding staying dry. Ime this is almost impossible if the chickens are exposed to the weather. They get wet and this sometimes provides enough moisture in a coop to make the bedding damp.

One of the most helpful indicators of a flocks health is in the poop. I clean daily, mainly so I get to look at the poop daily. With a small coop this isn't really a major chore if one is organized.

The deep bedding idea becomes a major problem in the event of a parasite problem, particularly worms. The chickens dig through the bedding and peck at it and the worm cycle just rolls on. It's also not that great for ensuring that the coop is mite free either.

There is also the matter of population density in the coop. A large coop with the recommended 4 square foot per bird may work better, but for many who have coops as roosting and egg laying only (the chickens are out in a run or free ranging during the day) some judge required coop space by room on the perch rather than room in the coop. I've always been a room on the perch style keeper because the chickens I've looked after leave the coop in the mornings and don't return until dusk, amoung other reasons.

It takes me a few minutes to clean the small roosting only coops I've used over the years. Chickens like clean.

We actually use course fill sand in the coop! It’s soo easy to poop scoop under the roosting bars, like a cat box! No stinky smell either. The poop sits on top to be scooped. I have a big secured screen run that they hang out in all day that has a roof. Out there I made a dust bath area and the rest is wood shavings and leaves etc. then attached is a fenced out door run they are only in during the day since it’s not predator proof but is all fenced in all around. They have access to actual ground and lilies growing and I am bagging up dry leaves for the winter time so they will have stuff on the snow they can forage in we are in process of finishing new nesting boxes. They won’t be laying until December/January

 

[Ascholten]

If you use newspaper, be careful of the heavily printed on with a lot of colors paper like you find all the advertisements on. The shiny smooth stuff. It does not compost as well as regular newspaper will, it does not suck up moisture as well, and not entirely sure about the inks either.

Aaron

 

[3KillerBs]

ot entirely sure about the inks either.

IIRC, in the US the inks are all soy inks -- largely because they're cheaper than the older, more toxic sort of ink.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

We actually use course fill sand in the coop! It’s soo easy to poop scoop under the roosting bars, like a cat box! No stinky smell either. The poop sits on top to be scooped. I have a big secured screen run that they hang out in all day that has a roof. Out there I made a dust bath area and the rest is wood shavings and leaves etc. then attached is a fenced out door run they are only in during the day since it’s not predator proof but is all fenced in all around. They have access to actual ground and lilies growing and I am bagging up dry leaves for the winter time so they will have stuff on the snow they can forage in we are in process of finishing new nesting boxes. They won’t be laying until December/January

Gathering leaves is a wonderful idea i wish i had done before winter last year. This year I will for sure. Good luck!

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

We actually use course fill sand in the coop! It’s soo easy to poop scoop under the roosting bars, like a cat box! No stinky smell either. The poop sits on top to be scooped. I have a big secured screen run that they hang out in all day that has a roof. Out there I made a dust bath area and the rest is wood shavings and leaves etc. then attached is a fenced out door run they are only in during the day since it’s not predator proof but is all fenced in all around. They have access to actual ground and lilies growing and I am bagging up dry leaves for the winter time so they will have stuff on the snow they can forage in we are in process of finishing new nesting boxes. They won’t be laying until December/January

Woah Thats a super high roost in the run!

 

[Chick-n-lily]

Woah Thats a super high roost in the run!

Yes and they go to the very top, too haha!