Deep Litter Height

[Folara]

For those doing a true composting deep litter in their runs (or walk-in coops), I'd love to hear your experiences with the height of the litter! My current run is about 7ft tall with fencing over the top, which I thought was plenty tall since we are shorter than that, but I didn't factor in the rising ground from deep litter so I'm starting to hit my head on the fence ceiling. I will be upgrading to a larger run in the far future which won't have anything over top but I need to plan out fence height vs. deep litter height. How does your deep litter affect your run or coop setup, height-wise? Would you change anything to better accommodate deep litter? Let's talk deep litter height!

 

[TooCheep]

I don't go as deep as some. I have a chicken tractor, so I only deep litter for about 4 months when I have to park the tractor for the winter. I put in about 6" of dried fall leaves when I park it. Then as the girls poop in it and break down the leaves, I add more. It works well and prevents odor/mess. In the spring, I take the broken down litter and use it as a topping in my garden.

 

[Folara]

I don't go as deep as some. I have a chicken tractor, so I only deep litter for about 4 months when I have to park the tractor for the winter. I put in about 6" of dried fall leaves when I park it. Then as the girls poop in it and break down the leaves, I add more. It works well and prevents odor/mess. In the spring, I take the broken down litter and use it as a topping in my garden.

Temporary deep litter in a tractor sounds great - being able to just lift up the tractor to harvest the goods is definitely an easier task!

My average deep litter goes up 1-2 feet each winter. As it effecting the coop, it's really hard on the floor. It's weight can hurt the floor joists and the moisture can rot the floors. I have a really thick garage tarp to protect my floors from rot, and reimbraced the floor joists with cement blocks this year. (Had to replace a couple of floor joists and a few floor boards this year too.)

In my run, I really only use leaves. The leaves' height can raise about the same, but after a while of rain, the chickens eating the leaves, and eventually becoming part of the ground, I am unsure of it's end height.

My run is also primarily leaves this time of year - I love the look of a leafy run and they break down beautifully. I'm actually glad they break down so quickly as we have a ton of leaves to give them (thus the ever-growing litter height). I can imagine the deep litter wrecking havoc on the solid coop flooring; can I ask why you chose to do deep litter on the solid floor?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

My average deep litter goes up 1-2 feet each winter. As it effecting the coop, it's really hard on the floor. It's weight can hurt the floor joists and the moisture can rot the floors. I have a really thick garage tarp to protect my floors from rot, and reimbraced the floor joists with cement blocks this year. (Had to replace a couple of floor joists and a few floor boards this year too.)

In my run, I really only use leaves. The leaves' height can raise about the same, but after a while of rain, the chickens eating the leaves, and eventually becoming part of the ground, I am unsure of it's end height.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

My run is also primarily leaves this time of year - I love the look of a leafy run and they break down beautifully. I'm actually glad they break down so quickly as we have a ton of leaves to give them (thus the ever-growing litter height). I can imagine the deep litter wrecking havoc on the solid coop flooring; can I ask why you chose to do deep litter on the solid floor?

A solid floor works better to keep the predators out. I did have a dirt floor in one of my coops, but the flooding after every major storm wasn't good for whatever I kept in there. (That coop was originally for my goats, then became my goose coop. It now has a raised solid floor which the flooding doesn't reach.) I was using hay in that coop for deep litter and did a major cleaning once to twice a year.

 

[3KillerBs]

My coop is dirt floored and i planned everything to accommodate at least a foot of litter.

 

[Folara]

My coop is dirt floored and i planned everything to accommodate at least a foot of litter.

You have a great open-air coop - does the litter build up against the hardware cloth portion of the coop? Do you have to step-up onto that foot of litter when you enter?

A solid floor works better to keep the predators out. I did have a dirt floor in one of my coops, but the flooding after every major storm wasn't good for whatever I kept in there. (That coop was originally for my goats, then became my goose coop. It now has a raised solid floor which the flooding doesn't reach.) I was using hay in that coop for deep litter and did a major cleaning once to twice a year.

Thank you for explaining, those are great reasons for a raised floor!

 

[TooCheep]

Yes, I do have to step up, especially on the downhill side. I have to periodically shovel the litter back up the hill when it's migrated down too far.

I don't have a hill, but do occasionally have to use a rake to re-even out the litter. My girls tend to create a large pile in the back of the run for some reason. I suspect that is common. Not hard to handle, but just something to be aware of.

 

[3KillerBs]

Do you mind explaining what lining you used and how it hasn't help up to your expectation? I was thinking of something exactly like this for my next run, lining the bottom foot or so with something solid and able to withstand moisture from the litter.

It's raining today, but I'll try to get some photos once the weather clears.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I don't have a hill, but do occasionally have to use a rake to re-even out the litter. My girls tend to create a large pile in the back of the run for some reason. I suspect that is common. Not hard to handle, but just something to be aware of.

I've had that issue in my coop. Under the perches is the highest, and by the doorway and under the feeder is the lowest. I recently had to relevel the deep litter coop because the it was going to bury the bottom perch. In the yard with the leaves, I like to dump the leaves the farthest from where they're going to be piled up from the hens. Eventually, the hens will level out the yard themselves.