Deep Litter Method Question

[newchick64]

Good morning all!
I have a quick question...I am new to byc. I live in New England, and although we've had 100 degree heat I'm looking into what to do this winter when the cold weather hits. I've been reading about the deep litter method but my coop has a metal slide pan at the bottom for cleaning. Can I still do the deep litter method if the coop base is not earth/dirt? I read that the dirt moisture helps to break down the poop into compost. Not sure about the metal slide tray though. Any suggestions. I really want to have a plan before the cold weather hits. Thanks in advance!

 

[Trux]

There are people that deep litter in coops with wood/linoleum covered floors as well as dirt. As for what you have the sliding metal tray, if you deep litter in that you won't be able to slide it out when you do need or want to clean it. You will have to clean it as you would a normal coop floor. Now I'm not sure what size coop you have, or how many birds you have, but you may be just better off cleaning it periodically if it is just a small coop

 

[newchick64]

I only have 4 chickens. The coop said large enough for 8, but I can't see ever putting 8 chickens in it.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Deep bedding is what I'd recommend inside a coop with deep litter out in the run, though if this is a slide out tray that tells me the coop is likely very small and the tray won't slide if it's covered in bedding. A small coop would need to be cleaned out regularly as the bedding will become soiled faster. Photos would be helpful.

 

[Trux]

I only have 4 chickens. The coop said large enough for 8, but I can't see ever putting 8 chickens in it.

A TSC special by chance? I have one of those with the slide out tray I use it for a brooder and grow out coop

20180819_103645

• Trux
• Aug 19, 2018

TSC Special use for brooder in summer, grow out and for Roo

like this

 

[newchick64]

A TSC special by chance? I have one of those with the slide out tray I use it for a brooder and grow out coop

20180819_103645

• Trux
• Aug 19, 2018

TSC Special use for brooder in summer, grow out and for Roo

like this

Yes! Except the coop isn't raised. It's on the ground. It is small but when I got it the description said it would be good for 8 chickens. There's no way, in my opinion, that it's big enough for 8. I think it's just right for 4 MAX.

 

[Trux]

I have 6, there 10 weeks old in mine atm. They will be moving in the next 2 weeks to the big coop with the girls. Going to be expanding my run before we move them over. I deep litter my run cause I have to run misters in the summer heat. The stink got really bad, so I started with chopped straw, then added a bale of pine shavings and then some pine flake. So far all is good. This fall when the leaves start falling will be adding those as well.

 

[blackdog043]

@newchick64, Deep litter will not work for you. If it's going to compost, the moisture would rust your tray out and your coop is not big enough. If your tray is deep enough, you could do a semi deep bedding(dry). Start with some pine shavings and sprinkle some Sweet PDZ over them, then add more shavings to refresh as needed. When it builds up to high, you will have to clean it out. Your other option depending on how big your tray is, fill the tray with Sweet PDZ and scoop the poop daily, like we do with poop boards.

 

[nminusyplusm]

What are the dimensions of your coop? Many of those coop companies advertise saying they fit up to 8 when the reality is they don't even fit 2 or 3 comfortably. Each bird should have at least 4 sq ft of coop and 10 sq ft of run, especially in areas where they may be coop confined due to bad weather.

Also to do deep litter or deep bedding (2 very different things) the coop needs enough height to accommodate the depth of the litter or bedding, nest boxes, roosts higher than the nest boxes and adequate ventilation above that.

Prefab coops are generally way too short so you might want to consider building your own coop designed for deep litter in the future. It might seem like a lot of work to start a new coop from scratch just for DL, but it's very worth it. You will save far more time and labor once it's done because you'll never ever need to clean it out.

 

[newchick64]

I did kind of think that the store bought pre-fab coop would just be until we built our own bigger one. I'm just worried about the cold weather coming. I'm thinking about straw in the run and I'll just keep doing what I'm doing now with the pine shavings inside the coop. I clean it daily. I just want to make sure they are warm enough in the winter.