Deep litter advice

[Jgrice]

I want to do deep litter in my 10x10 run. I live in north Texas: wet Springs, hot dry summers. What’s the best material to use to reduce smell and flies? They’re both pretty bad right now. I have 6 birds.

Currently I have pine pellets in my run and pine shavings in the coop.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

I used straw and that worked pretty well. Used straw in the nest boxes too, would change that out once in a while and just throw it on the ground. Never really had an issue with smell, flies would come around sometimes if I didn't freshen it up for a while.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd use a mix of stuff - what do you have lying around? My main component is wood chips for drainage and aeration, mixed with dried leaves I collect in fall, dried grass clippings from the lawn, random clumps of weeds I pull or trimmings from the veggie garden, pine needles from under the trees.

 

[3KillerBs]

Mixed materials and plenty of them.

My NC summers are probably wetter than yours, but I used a mix of wood chips, pine shavings, pine straw, straw, old leaves, and whatever weeds/yard waste I had handy.

If I had corn on the cob for dinner I tossed in the husks and the cobs. If I pulled big weeds from along the fence line I threw them in and left the woody stems lay when the chickens had stripped off all the good stuff. If I made jam I didn't bother picking the plum or peach pits out of the waste I gave them. I even dumped in the contents of the paper shredder sometimes (calm days only so that the old bills get worked into the litter instead of blown around the yard).

Remember, your deep litter is a compost pile. The chicken poop is the "green" portion and the bedding is the "brown". As long as you have enough browns for the amount of greens and there is enough moisture to let the composting bacteria work without being too soggy there shouldn't be any odor.

Don't use just straw because it can form mats that act like a roof to keep water and waste from filtering down into the bedding. It has to be mixed up and fluffed up.

You can stir the bedding up with a fork from time to time or you can let the chickens do the work by throwing a few handfuls of scratch into the area you think needs to be worked over.

I thought that deep litter was just terrific and never had any odor issues that couldn't be solved with another layer of bedding (I cleaned the run when the pile got inconveniently high or when I wanted compost for the garden).

 

[Jgrice]

Mixed materials and plenty of them.

My NC summers are probably wetter than yours, but I used a mix of wood chips, pine shavings, pine straw, straw, old leaves, and whatever weeds/yard waste I had handy.

If I had corn on the cob for dinner I tossed in the husks and the cobs. If I pulled big weeds from along the fence line I threw them in and left the woody stems lay when the chickens had stripped off all the good stuff. If I made jam I didn't bother picking the plum or peach pits out of the waste I gave them. I even dumped in the contents of the paper shredder sometimes (calm days only so that the old bills get worked into the litter instead of blown around the yard).

Remember, your deep litter is a compost pile. The chicken poop is the "green" portion and the bedding is the "brown". As long as you have enough browns for the amount of greens and there is enough moisture to let the composting bacteria work without being too soggy there shouldn't be any odor.

Don't use just straw because it can form mats that act like a roof to keep water and waste from filtering down into the bedding. It has to be mixed up and fluffed up.

You can stir the bedding up with a fork from time to time or you can let the chickens do the work by throwing a few handfuls of scratch into the area you think needs to be worked over.

I thought that deep litter was just terrific and never had any odor issues that couldn't be solved with another layer of bedding (I cleaned the run when the pile got inconveniently high or when I wanted compost for the garden).

 

[Jgrice]

Thank you! So helpful. How long do you think it will take for the current odor to clear out? I threw a bunch of free wood chips and grass clippings I got yesterday in there and mixed it all up. It’s been wet the last few days so I’m anticipating that’s why it’s smelled so bad.

 

[aart]

Is there standing water in your run?
Any drainage issues should be addressed first.

Any dry plant matter should help with odor almost immediately.
I started with straw, just enough to cover soil.
Don't go overboard, thin layers every few days.

If you're not looking to 'make garden soil' wood chippings are the best, IMO.

My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.

 

[Jgrice]

Is there standing water in your run?
Any drainage issues should be addressed first.

Any dry plant matter should help with odor almost immediately.
I started with straw, just enough to cover soil.
Don't go overboard, thin layers every few days.

If you're not looking to 'make garden soil' wood chippings are the best, IMO.

My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.

The water drains fine. Thanks! This is very similar to what I did. You add to it weekly?

 

[rosemarythyme]

The water drains fine. Thanks! This is very similar to what I did. You add to it weekly?

Once the soil stabilizes you'll find you really don't have to add in very much. No rhyme or reason to when I add more stuff to the run - "when I have it" is always the best time.

 

[aart]

The water drains fine. Thanks! This is very similar to what I did. You add to it weekly?

When first starting the semi-deep litter I was careful not to pile it up too quickly.
Didn't want to end up with an anaerobic mess.
I'm still pretty careful about adding too much stuff at once.
Kinda gotta play it by eye depending on what you're adding and the weather.
I once dumped all the coop bedding in a run that didn't get much sun, and thus didn't dry out fast....it was a mess, took me weeks to get it back in to good shape.