Deep litter method

[IAFarmGirl]

Slowly reading all the comments on this thread but I have a question. I am in the Pacific Northwest. I am going to put the coop in a place where the rain water doesn't settle and I like the deep litter method sounds like you dont scoop poop you just keep it dry and keep adding items such as straw, dry leaving, pine shavings and household items like old bread, egg shells etc right? Do you do this in your run only and still clean out the coop and nest boxes? What should I do on the floor in the run if I am worried about the soil getting too wet through our lovely rain storms. I am not sure my run would stay dry during our rainy season. Suggestions?

You could put down a six inch layer of rock or gravel and then add you deep litter over the top of that. That way you would have good drainage underneath the deep litter. That is the method we use for our horse stalls to keep the urine from pooling in the stalls and it also keeps the ground water out of the stalls when we have heavy rains. It wouldn't hurt the birds even if they dug through the deep litter down to it.

I use deep litter in the coop also and only clean it out once or twice a year depending on how deep it is. When I need to clean out the nest boxes I just dump them in the deep litter of the coop. I usually don't have to clean them as the birds seem pretty intent on kicking the nesting materials out of the nests on a fairly regular basis.

 

[armorfirelady]

I use deep litter in their coop and an old enclosed run they use during the winter. I solved my drainage problems with piping but when it's to cold to run the sump pump and its muddier I will add DL OUTISDE their coop

 

[lawatt]

You could put down a six inch layer of rock or gravel and then add you deep litter over the top of that. That way you would have good drainage underneath the deep litter. That is the method we use for our horse stalls to keep the urine from pooling in the stalls and it also keeps the ground water out of the stalls when we have heavy rains. It wouldn't hurt the birds even if they dug through the deep litter down to it.

I use deep litter in the coop also and only clean it out once or twice a year depending on how deep it is. When I need to clean out the nest boxes I just dump them in the deep litter of the coop. I usually don't have to clean them as the birds seem pretty intent on kicking the nesting materials out of the nests on a fairly regular basis.

thanks, this is an excellent idea... will have to consider it as i work to get my coops cleaned out from this flooding rain! although here the problem is the water coming UP from the water table, so might flood anyway? worth a try, though...

 

[Lacy Blues]

When I lived in California and we got rain like that, I had to dig small canals leading away from my coops so the water would run down hill someplace else. I lived in hilly terrain though so if you live where its flat, maybe not. Actually I'm thinking you live in the hills there. Sonoma county, isn't Napa there? Kind of between Sacramento and San Francisco?

 

[lawatt]

When I lived in California and we got rain like that, I had to dig small canals leading away from my coops so the water would run down hill someplace else. I lived in hilly terrain though so if you live where its flat, maybe not. Actually I'm thinking you live in the hills there. Sonoma county, isn't Napa there? Kind of between Sacramento and San Francisco?

Sonoma Co. is west of Napa, between Napa and the Pacific Ocean (north of SF about an hour) -- and i'm quite high up on Sonoma Mtn, at about 1650' -- but the mountain is an ancient volcano, and so has quirky geology. there's a fair amount of clay in the soil, so water, once it starts seeping in, can get backed up & have nowhere to go.

i'll work on some drainage canals, but the water is coming up in the coops in odd places (like, in my main coop, the higher elevation end of the coop is inundated, but the lower end is still dry), which i think has to do with patterns in the underlying clay -- so it's going to be an interesting puzzle to figure out. and too wet out there to start digging today! (it's been pouring for three days straight and still at it...)

 

[Lacy Blues]

Wow! A small dent in the drought. Very much needed.

 

[momofthehouse]

Thanks for extra info. Going to have to just really keep an eye on it as we get rain this spring. I wonder if it would be beneficial to raise the coop up off the ground then lawatt?

 

[armorfirelady]

Thanks for extra info. Going to have to just really keep an eye on it as we get rain this spring. I wonder if it would be beneficial to raise the coop up off the ground then lawatt? 

It might work but I don't have a floor in my coop so would be pointless for me after I dug out the trench for drainage I put the coop back in its original spot and put the wood frame on paving stones I had so hopefully the wood doesn't rot so fast.

 

[lawatt]

It might work but I don't have a floor in my coop so would be pointless for me

after I dug out the trench for drainage I put the coop back in its original spot and put the wood frame on paving stones I had so hopefully the wood doesn't rot so fast.

same here, my coops/runs have no floor, and raising them with cinderblocks or something would be a substantial undertaking -- considering we only get really prolonged flooding rains like this maybe once a year or so, it's not worth the work and expense. i'll just do some cleanup this week!

 

[Arielle]

Can you drop in a few pallets and cover with straw??? Tha should allow the water to flow thru and give the birds a moderately dry area to walk.