In my area May and June are hot and dry, and July and August are hot and humid. We have huge monsoon-like thunderstorms in the summer. I started using deep litter about a year ago, during the dry time. I had been spraying it lightly with the hose to keep the dust down and provide some moisture for composting. That worked great until the humidity hit.
I didn't stop spraying when monsoon season arrived. It wasn't long before most of my birds were getting bumblefoot-like sores on their feet. That could have had a number of causes, but part of the problem was the way I had been maintaining the deep litter. When the litter suddenly got thoroughly moist it became clear I had not been adding fresh litter fast enough. The dry poop kind of reconstituted. It was smelly and gross. I treated the birds' feet, mucked out about half of the litter, and started over.
I resolved the problem by increasing the amount of fresh litter I was adding, and I stopped spraying the litter with water. The birds' feet healed just fine. The litter still doesn't compost much in the coop and the coop is a bit dusty, but I'm okay with that. The coop/run has a lot of open wire and cross-ventilation. Most of the coop/run dust gets blown out and some of the outside dust gets blown in. My birds live in a desert. Dust is something they have to cope with, like heat. There is no way to keep them in a dust-free environment.
When it is really hot and DRY I will spray the coop/run a little. It helps moderate the temperature in there. But I will stop all spraying once the humidity kicks in. And I will muck out a portion of the deep litter every few months.
In my climate the litter may not compost well in the coop/run, but once I get it into a compost pile where I can add a lot of moisture it is a different story. After last summer's coop muck-out the compost pile got so hot it was scary. For a couple of days I was concerned about spontaneous combustion. Watered and turned it a lot and it eventually calmed down, producing a great compost within a few weeks. I like it to be in the "active" range of the compost thermometer, not off the scale on the "hot" side.
Since I need good compost more than I need eggs, this works for me.
I have to tell you I giggled to see where you live because you said it was so dry there.
We're from the Bay area originally but have lived in Reno for the past 20 years. When we go back to visit it feels like we're breathing under water it's so humid and moist to our lungs now. Oh how I long for that Baby Area atmosphere. My desert chicks would love the Martinez earthworms, slugs and snails which are not heard of in my dry backyard. I'm thinking I might have to pass on the DLM for now and see what happens this winter moisture wise.
