Deep litter method (Feathers)

[TalkALittle]

I just leave the feathers be. They blow away, get caught in the brush, get eaten, or get mixed in the litter. I've also found chicken feathers incorporated into the nests of wild songbirds in the trees and shrubs around my property.

 

[Excogitate]

So you brought up moisture. Here in AZ it's pretty dry would I help by wetting litter when I add to it? Eventually we will get some rain and then the litter will hold moisture.

 

[Mhg1523]

Don't add moisture to the coop, the chickens will do that on their own. I also live in az, I've had chickens about a year and only have cleaned out the coop once because I wanted to add the stuff to my compost pile.

 

[TalkALittle]

So you brought up moisture. Here in AZ it's pretty dry would I help by wetting litter when I add to it? Eventually we will get some rain and then the litter will hold moisture.

Is this in a run? If so, yes, you can add water to the run. My 8x12 run is roofed and was wrapped all winter long. Things got pretty dry and dusty in there. We had very little snow this winter so no moisture seeped into the run from snowmelt. Last week I took the hose and sprayed down the whole inside of the run to help with the dust. I sprayed a lot. The top inch or so of the litter was soaked, but below that it was still very dry. By the next morning you couldn't even tell that I'd sprayed because the birds had mixed it all up. I solved my dust problem though.

If my run were not roofed I'd probably not have to spray as much as I do, but I'd still probably do it occassionally and I'm in New England where it definitely isn't a dry desert.