Deep litter method

[BertieBott]

Ok, newbie here.............you mean I don't have to clean my chicken coop once a week? I can use leaves from the ground to help cover the floor? We kind of fell into chickens so I didn't really have a lot of time to research a bunch of stuff. I felt bad I wasn't cleaning the coop more than once a week!

Tate is my son's name. It's always fun to find another Tate out there

Welcome from another newbie trying to figure out this deep litter amazingness.

 

[BertieBott]

DE kills bugs, so no, you don't want it in deep litter. If you do deep bedding that is not composting in place but just gives you more time between clean outs, I guess you could use some DE. Personally, I use elemental sulfur in their feed and dustbath. Works much better than DE against more parasites and is not as hazardous. I do deep litter in their run and deep bedding in the coop that I clean out once a month (I have poop boards that catch a lot).

Hi Stephanie!

Thanks! I'm not actually looking for a compost, just to keep from cleaning it out all winter long. Do you still recommend skipping the DE? I have never even heard of elemental sulfur. Goodness, much to learn. As I said, growing up our chickens just had a straw covered dirt floor. lol.

 

[Beekissed]

Hi all!

I'm brand new to BYC (other than stalking your boards for the last few months). I grew up on a farm in Southern Ohio (still on that farm) with a minimum of 100 chickens at a time. However, it's been many years since we've had any birds. A month ago we got 6 chicks from MPC. Now, we are headed toward winter here and I'm very interested in the deep litter method.

I've read 6-12" of pine chips with straw on top, mix daily and sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth. Is this correct? I've read many threads, some say Diatomaceous Earth some say no Diatomaceous Earth, so I'm a little confused. Growing up our chickens lived in a metal building with a dirt floor and straw, so this part is all new to me.

Also, if I am supposed to use DE, is this the right kind?

Thanks for all your help,
Tina

You can skip the DE...those who have used it report little decomposition in the layers wherein they used it in their DL, even many months past the application date. You'll want and need certain bugs to live within your DL to aid in decomposition, so killing them doesn't benefit a thing.

You won't want 6-12 in. of pine chips at all....don't know where you've been reading, but that mix of deep pine shavings and then straw will be the slowest working DL you've ever had. Both are woody and decompose slowly, so they just get saturated with manure and sit there putting out a lot of ammonia, then you have to keep adding dry on top to cover that smell....before long you have very deep bedding but still very little actual decomposition going on.

Best if you can use materials of varying size and type and not too much of any one material unless it would be leaves, which break down rather quickly in particle size and then break down rather quickly into compost. A good mix of leaves, straw, hay, shavings, pine needles, pine cones, small twigs, wood chips(not freshly chipped ones), woody weeds, cornstalks, etc. Just about anything you can think to throw in there at any given time can decompose if you've really got a good DL going. I concentrate most of my litter materials under the roosts and the chickens usually work it out from there but most of my depth will still be located under where most of the poop happens.

 

[BertieBott]

You can skip the DE...those who have used it report little decomposition in the layers wherein they used it in their DL, even many months past the application date. You'll want and need certain bugs to live within your DL to aid in decomposition, so killing them doesn't benefit a thing.

You won't want 6-12 in. of pine chips at all....don't know where you've been reading, but that mix of deep pine shavings and then straw will be the slowest working DL you've ever had. Both are woody and decompose slowly, so they just get saturated with manure and sit there putting out a lot of ammonia, then you have to keep adding dry on top to cover that smell....before long you have very deep bedding but still very little actual decomposition going on.

Best if you can use materials of varying size and type and not too much of any one material unless it would be leaves, which break down rather quickly in particle size and then break down rather quickly into compost. A good mix of leaves, straw, hay, shavings, pine needles, pine cones, small twigs, wood chips(not freshly chipped ones), woody weeds, cornstalks, etc. Just about anything you can think to throw in there at any given time can decompose if you've really got a good DL going. I concentrate most of my litter materials under the roosts and the chickens usually work it out from there but most of my depth will still be located under where most of the poop happens.

Excellent info, thanks so much!

Would pine chips/pine shavings be considered two different materials? I live in the woods, so coming by leaves will be quite easy in a couple weeks, and I'll have straw on hand as well.

 

[Beekissed]

Hi Stephanie!

Thanks! I'm not actually looking for a compost, just to keep from cleaning it out all winter long. Do you still recommend skipping the DE? I have never even heard of elemental sulfur. Goodness, much to learn. As I said, growing up our chickens just had a straw covered dirt floor. lol.

If you just want poop and bedding to stay in one place all winter, you are looking for a HUGE chore come spring...it's miserable. Then you have to pile that stuff somewhere else until it's no longer hot before you can use it on any gardens or lawn. Why not just let it compost in place all winter and have a healthier environment for the chickens? Then it just composts down into dust/earth, which is more easily removed in the spring and can be used immediately.

There's a big difference between deep bedding and deep litter and the difference is usually 1. work and 2. the general health of the stuff below the chicken's feet all winter.

 

[BertieBott]

If you just want poop and bedding to stay in one place all winter, you are looking for a HUGE chore come spring...it's miserable.  Then you have to pile that stuff somewhere else until it's no longer hot before you can use it on any gardens or lawn.  Why not just let it compost in place all winter and have a healthier environment for the chickens?  Then it just composts down into dust/earth, which is more easily removed in the spring and can be used immediately.  

There's a big difference between deep bedding and deep litter and the difference is usually 1.  work and  2.  the general health of the stuff below the chicken's feet all winter.   

I don't actually know what I'm doing. Lol. When you said compost I assumed you meant for an actual compost pile. Believe me, I know about cleaning out a chicken coop (of 100+ chickens) after a long winter and that is exactly what I'm trying to avoid.

 

[Beekissed]

Here's a vid....apologize for the poorly done video but was just doing it with my ancient picture camera...that kind of shows what the DL looks like in the winter time and I'll post pics of what the finished litter looks like when I rob from it come spring. I don't ever do a total cleanout of the coop but I do remove some composted litter or my head would be touching the ceiling eventually. The first few years I didn't remove much of anything but now that all cooks down so well in there that I have to remove some soil or I couldn't stand up in there.

When I scoop it back out to use on the garden, it's really light weight, silty type soil with small particles still in it, but it's nothing like a clean out of deep bedding after winter....I used to do that and NEVER again. This stuff moves with a grain shovel and is lightweight to lift up and transport, unlike deeply saturated winter time built up bedding. No piling it up anywhere to let it compost either....just directly onto the garden as is.

 

[BertieBott]

Here's a vid....apologize for the poorly done video but was just doing it with my ancient picture camera...that kind of shows what the DL looks like in the winter time and I'll post pics of what the finished litter looks like when I rob from it come spring. I don't ever do a total cleanout of the coop but I do remove some composted litter or my head would be touching the ceiling eventually. The first few years I didn't remove much of anything but now that all cooks down so well in there that I have to remove some soil or I couldn't stand up in there.

When I scoop it back out to use on the garden, it's really light weight, silty type soil with small particles still in it, but it's nothing like a clean out of deep bedding after winter....I used to do that and NEVER again. This stuff moves with a grain shovel and is lightweight to lift up and transport, unlike deeply saturated winter time built up bedding. No piling it up anywhere to let it compost either....just directly onto the garden as is.

Thank you!

So, basically, I'm just looking at different materials, rake moisture to bottom every couple days, add more on top every couple days?

 

[Beekissed]

Sorta but not quite....more like just flipping, rather than raking, the dry material over the poop dropped at night, just in thin layers. Eventually the poop is just consumed by the composting of the mass underneath. I disturb the underlayers as little as possible, so forking instead of raking is less disruptive of the life under there.

As long as you cover the poop there every other day or so, either by lifting a thin layer of bedding that contains poop on top and just flipping it over like a pancake or tossing a dry forkful of materials from another part of the coop onto the poop, it will take care of itself. Keeping the moist poop under the top layer will keep the moisture where it belongs and where it can do the most good....you'll need it a little moist in that mass for the materials to break down. That also lets your chickens be walking on dry material most of the time, which is good for them and will help you have cleaner eggs too. Also keeps them warmer in the winter.

 

[Kangasox]

@Beekissed...help! The shavings in our duck's coop have been in since last October-Ish. Not much breakdown,I don't think. Doesn't smell, not sure what to do with it. Leave it? I wanted to spread it on the garden beds, but not sure it's ready. It's over linoleum, not bare ground, so I'm sure that's why, but not sure how to proceed. Throw it in the compost and start over? And this is ducks, not chickens. Thanks!