Deep litter and required moisture ?

[Backyard Bruce]

I'm doing deep litter in both run and coop, my question pertains to the coop.

I've read that in order for deep litter or composting action to take affect there is a required amount of moisture need for that reaction to happen.

I've started in the coop with wood shavings and a good layer of already composted material, mostly a mix of leaves and 3 year old wood chips.
This concoction is ~somewhat moist but not wet in any stretch and maybe even drying out further.
I live in a pretty humid area (north east) is this enough moisture for the composting to continue or do I need to wet id down periodically.

The coop is a stand alone structure with a wood floor and linoleum on top of that.

Thanks for help, I couldn't find anything where it covers moisture content specifically, just that it is needed.

 

[imneva]

Following

 

[Backyard Bruce]

Bump for the morning crowd.
Does no one have insight in this.

 

[aart]

That moisture is why I don't do DL in my coop, too humid here already and in winter it can freeze.

@lazy gardener does DL in coop in cold country with success.

 

[lazy gardener]

And, it does freeze. But, it locks in the moisture until things thaw out again. I just keep an eye on the weather patterns, and when that warm weather comes: toss on some more leaves or hay, and open up more ventilation. It wouldn't matter what kind of litter I used, it would become a frozen chunk during winter.

 

[aart]

It wouldn't matter what kind of litter I used

Dry pine shavings on floor don't freeze
but I use a poop board with PDZ, so poopsicles!

 

[coach723]

I use deep litter. Being dry is what makes it work. Wet means stink and yuck. It's not the same as a compost heap or bin. Staying dry dries out the droppings, keeps things nice and stink free. It will compost, but much, much slower, the birds keep it stirred up. Occasionally if it rains sideways it gets wet, then I have to turn it until dry, add more, or replace. It means maintaining the coop/run is much less labor, I only deep clean about every 12 months and I have no problems, no stink, no flies. When I do a clean out, if the removed pile is in the rain, the stink comes quick! It's not the same as doing quick composting for the garden, which requires moisture. After I do a clean out I allow it to compost the other way before putting it to use in the garden, to ensure that it isn't too 'hot'. (you leave a small amount of the old stuff when cleaning to get the new stuff started). Different priorities in play, one is to provide quick nutrients for the garden, one is to keep the coop clean and reduce work. If you have stink, you have too much moisture. If done correctly it serves the same purpose as PDZ, to dry out the droppings.
https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/deep-litter-method-zb0z1208zmat
A good, and entertaining, book on manure management is "Holy Shit, Managing Manure to Save Mankind" by Gene Logsdon.

 

[Backyard Bruce]

Thank you Coach, and all for the responses, You cleared it up for me.

My goal first off is to be stink free and secondly to provide some good fertile soil for the garden so I will only be cleaning out once per year.

They've only been in there 3 weeks or so and as of now you wouldn't know there was a chicken coop if I brought you there blind folded, this method is already working in my estimation.

I must have been reading somewhere about creating a composting bin or something when I read about keeping it wet/moist.

So I'll keep on keeping on the way I'm going, I thought I was wrong but I was wrong about being wrong. ;-)

Thanks Again, Bruce.

 

[lazy gardener]

There are different methods of managing DL, and there is no one right or wrong way. @Beekissed has been doing deep composting litter in her coop for years. Hers is odor free and she actually adds more moisture when things get dry. Some folks like it dry, she likes it wet! Mine tends to be wet under the perches, and dry in the open spaces. In the run, the top tends to be dry, while it is moist underneath.

 

[Backyard Bruce]

I think that is about where mine is at also, mostly dryish but wetter under the perches(by design). I didn't want boards because I thought that would be defeating the purpose of deep litter, robbing the litter of the poop needed.

So it's moist~ kind of, I also just added some fresh grass clippings today in both coop and run so along with adding a little moisture there it added a whole heck of a lot of fun on a hot day down here, the boys and girls were having a blast spreading it out and all over, An added benifit.