Deep litter help

[Elmochook]

I have dirt floors in both of my runs so i decided to start trying to build stuff up in there. Leafs are what i started with and the chickens loved them but it takes a LOT of leafs for me to get it "deep" in there so i went and bought 1 hay bale and spread it all over in both pens and now its pretty deep in the smaller run but not as deep in the main.
The chickens in the little pen were tripping all over but they are skittish anyways... ?
So what im asking is is hay going to work well for this or should i thin it out and keep alternating leafs and such?
Im doing it to lower the poop for the birds because they havent been out as much lately.

 

[Kiki]

Hay is great...the chickens with help mix it in and break it down.


Have you seen this post yet?
#8

 

[TalkALittle]

Hay and straw are great but can tangle and mat down. I prefer to spread mine out in the yard and run over it with the bagging lawn mower to chop it into bits. Then I toss some in the run and put the rest in a big paper lawn and leaf bag for later use. It mixes in nicely with the leaves and breaks down the poop better.

 

[Folly's place]

Bagged shavings work well and don't mat down like the hay or straw. Mary

 

[sweetater22]

Have you considered wood chips as part of your mixture ? If you can copy the look and feel of the forest floor that makes for a great DL method that should serve you well.

 

[Elmochook]

Have you considered wood chips as part of your mixture ? If you can copy the look and feel of the forest floor that makes for a great DL method that should serve you well.

I used to use only wood chips but then i read something about them being toxic so i chunked a whole cube of that crap on my compost pile. I cant remember if it was cedar or pine but im thinking they were pine. I have 2 acres of very wild land so i can find tons of stuff to layer in there. Sticks? No real green grass clipping right now so thats out... its mostly sticks and leafs.

 

[Elmochook]

Bagged shavings work well and don't mat down like the hay or straw. Mary

Which type of shavings?

 

[Folly's place]

I buy the shavings bagged for livestock bedding, it's pine, and comes in different grades of fineness. Mary

 

[Patinas]

Which type of shavings?

Use pine and avoid cedar shaving for chickens. Everything I've read says cedar shavings can be toxic due to the natural oils in cedar.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Try looking for some sawdust. We bought ours from a local mulch place but you could get some for free or cheap at lumber yards, lowes/home depot/wood shop laces, etc.