Deep litter method

[carolinec]

I am interested in the deep litter method. I am hoping to get a couple of ducks and a couple of chickens. and the coop will be a wooden shed 8 x 4 feet. They will have a run outside and hopefully also be part free range. I want to know can I just use shredded newspaper for this method. I have read some of the info. but do I need to clean the pooh out everyday or do you leave it.

 

[AllenInTampa]

I use a modified version of the DLM. I put a very heavy layer of pine shavings down. I found a wide kitty litter scoop that I duck taped to a telescopic handle (I duck taped a putty knife on other end for scraping poop off perches )

Every day I take a 5 gallon bucket and sift out the biggest chunks of poop. The kitty litter scoop separates the poop and shavings pretty darn well. Poop goes in bucket, and dumped into my compost bin. I give the pine shavings a good stir with the scoop. Then go outside and with a garden rake, I rake the run really well. I also have an old windex bottle that I have mixed peppermint oil and water. I give a few squirts inside coop to freshen it up
Sifting poop, raking run, checking water and feed, and dumping poop into composter all takes a total of about 10 minutes. There is pretty much no noticeable smell whatsoever. Also I have 2 of the hanging fly traps outside and there are no flies in the coop at all

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Ducks can be very messy if you choose to have a waterer in the coop with the ducks. If you setup a catch basin that the ducks cannot get into, that will go a long way towards keeping the coop managable.

Start off with about 2 or 3 inches of your compost material and add more material at a steady rate until you have a nice deep bed of compost material in the coop.

 

[moetrout]

I use a modified version of the DLM. I put a very heavy layer of pine shavings down. I found a wide kitty litter scoop that I duck taped to a telescopic handle (I duck taped a putty knife on other end for scraping poop off perches )

Every day I take a 5 gallon bucket and sift out the biggest chunks of poop. The kitty litter scoop separates the poop and shavings pretty darn well. Poop goes in bucket, and dumped into my compost bin. I give the pine shavings a good stir with the scoop. Then go outside and with a garden rake, I rake the run really well. I also have an old windex bottle that I have mixed peppermint oil and water. I give a few squirts inside coop to freshen it up
Sifting poop, raking run, checking water and feed, and dumping poop into composter all takes a total of about 10 minutes. There is pretty much no noticeable smell whatsoever. Also I have 2 of the hanging fly traps outside and there are no flies in the coop at all

I don't think this is really the deep litter method.

I do DLM with pine litter. My opinion is shredded paper is likely to be problematic. Also depending on the type of paper there maybe ink (like on newsprint) or other chemicals used to bleach the paper white that may not be desirable. My coup is 6' x 8' and it takes 1.5 bales to fill it after cleaning. I clean twice a year and probably use no more than 6 bales total all year for the initial fill after cleaning and then periodically putting on a fresh layer. That's like $30 a year in pine litter.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

You want to use a material that has loft and will allow air spaces when it is turned. Materials that pack allow anarobic reactions to take place. Pine litter, wood shavings, leaf material, chopped hay...etc....good materials for a Deep Litter System.