Deep Litter... again.

[rainplace]

I think it's been three months since I started my litter. I started out stirring it every day, laying down DE every few days and then adding a layer of bedding after the DE. This didn't seem to be working for me. I was getting some build ups of ammonia that bothered me. So I tried stirring it more... that made the problem worse. Then I stopped stirring and just layed down some DE, but in the mornings after the DE they would all come out with white noses even if I layed some bedding on top of it. I didn't like that. I still ended up with some ammonia smells that felt problematic. Then this last week or so I had a lot on my plate and didn't do anything but let them out in the morning feed/water them and then put them away at night. I planned on just cleaning the entire thing out and starting from scratch, but I starting noticing the last few days that there wasn't any smell when I opened it in the morning, and when I put my nose down near the litter there was only faint ammonia smell. Hrmmm....

So until this morning it had been almost 10 days since I had done anything. I laid down about 8 cups of DE and an inch of bedding and don't plan on touching it for another 10 days or so. Am I on the right track? Their house is 8'x12', a lino floor and 17 ducks and 2 geese living in it.

 

[rainplace]

oh yeah, and I use wood shavings for their bedding.

 

[jerseygirl1]

I'd love to hear - I have 20 chickens in a huge 10 x 12 coop, I added a huge bag of bedding every week until it got too deep, added DE and ag lime and kept turning and turning, but it does faintly smell every few days. Wondering if I am doing something wrong.....or if this is the way it is supposed to be

 

[FenDruadin]

Ah ha! Now I know what I've been doing right--being lazy!! I just sprinkle a very light layer of straw on top of all the poop each morning--and I do mean light--you can still see the poop through the sprinkling of straw. It's just enough to keep the flies down. It works great for me, and has for a couple years, winter and summer. I clean it out thoroughly about once a year, but do partial clean-outs every few months when I need mulch for my fruit trees.