Deep litter: friend or foe?

[MomMommyMamma]

Quote:
We also have a plywood floor - painted w/ exterior grade paint though. Wondering if it's alright w/ the DLM as well.
Trying to imagine 8" of wood shavings and it not falling out the door. I think at that height it would about cut the chickens door in half. Hmmm...
Love the thread though! Lots of great info!

 

[haTHOR]

it stays dry even during the composting process, at least here in humid hot aqrkansas. if it gets wet at all, you'll get maggots in it, which means the chickens scratch and eat them, which gets all the wetness out as the shavings are moved and they dry again, and even that is not a big deal. do not have a problem with it rotting my plywood floor in either of 2 coops for 18 mos.

 

[Heathercp]

We've got a bare plywood floor in our coop and do deep litter. I know lots of people say you have to paint or put down linoleum, but we didn't and after 6 months I don't regret leaving well enough alone. My chickens are out free ranging all day and our winters are mild, so I can't imagine them ever spending much time in the coop other than to sleep. They poop plenty when they sleep, but it's dry as a bone in there. Can't imagine the floor rotting because of moisture. There just isn't any. We've also got good ventilation which probably helps keep things dry in the coop. I turn the shavings myself about one a week, or whenever I think it's getting kind of poopy on top. DH turns them more often because he thinks it's better. Between the two of us, they probably get turned about 3x a week. I'd have to lock the chickens up to get them to do the work for me, so I just keep a long handled cultivator in the coop and it takes all of a minute to stir things up.

I think DLM is the best thing for chicken keeping next to automated pop doors. The thought of scraping droppings boards every day just doesn't appeal to me. My coop is "clean" and doesn't smell at all - and I don't have to scrape poop and find a place to compost it. My girls don't hurt themselves jumping down from their roosts (they're BAs so they're not the best flyers) because they've got a nice thick pile of shavings to land on. What's not to like?