Deep litter method

[paintedChix]

Just got chicks outside into their brand new coop/run last night finally! They are 6 1/2 week old white leghorns. I am aiming for deep litter in both coop and run. Right now we have just dirt ground in run and pine shavings on top of dirt on top of vinyl sheets on plywood coop floor. I want to do this properly and get compost not a big stinky mess. So I need to make sure the chickens scratch things up for me regularly right? So far they have only had chick starter feed. What else can I give them at this age to aid the dlm? What else do I need to be sure to do to get going on the right foot?

Do you mow your lawn? Do you have veggie scraps, apple peelings, other fruit scraps (my granddaughters pull apart all the orange "stuff" - I have LOTS of scrap orange biomass - ). Shredded paper (junk mail, bills), coffee grounds/filters, tea leaves, tea bags w/o staples. Shredded cardboard, weeds from your yard, shrubbery trimmings.

I kept chix in the house this spring and I was amazed just how much scratching they do right from day one. I determined that next batch we get, they will be outside. The dust from the bedding was terrible!! Yours will scratch and move around, bury and unbury what ever you put in the run and the coop. You may not want to do all the stuff I named in your coop - depending on the size of it.

Our personal "coops" aren't enclosed or raised off of the floor but are a hooped, cattle panel coop/run set up w/ everything going down to the ground.

 

[miguelitro]

DLM can be used in the coop and in the run correctly?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Bobby Basham]

I've read that DE kills off the good as well as the bad microbes (whatever) in a coup, but once it gets wet, it's no longer effective. Should there be a problem with tossing that bedding out into the run and hose it down a bit? Being "neutralized" from moisture, it should mix in well with the pre-existing material out there. --BB

 

[Kusanar]

DLM can be used in the coop and in the run correctly?

Thanks,

Mike

Yes, it can be used both in the coup and run. No problems. Probably a little easier with a covered run, but not necessary.

 

[Mraya]

OK I started the DLM in my run in June of this year I don't see having to clean it out any time soon. No smell, other then an earthy order which I like. My coop I also use the DL no smell how often do you clean the run and coop out? Chickens are healthy coop and run have no smell so far I don't see having to clean it out until it starts to smell or it that too late should I be doing it sooner?

 

[Molpet]

OK I started the DLM in my run in June of this year I don't see having to clean it out any time soon. No smell, other then an earthy order which I like. My coop I also use the DL no smell how often do you clean the run and coop out? Chickens are healthy coop and run have no smell so far I don't see having to clean it out until it starts to smell or it that too late should I be doing it sooner?

some people rake the top off and gather the bottom compost for the garden in the fall.. some wait a couple of years until it is too high.. mine is over a year in one coop and I may take some out this fall

 

[ScottandSam]

I have access to a lot of straw. All our trees are walnut but I know where to get pine needles and oak leaves this fall. I am in the process of raising everything 10" off the floor so we can do dlm.
What else should we use?
Scott

 

[aart]

I have access to a lot of straw. All our trees are walnut but I know where to get pine needles and oak leaves this fall. I am in the process of raising everything 10" off the floor so we can do dlm.
What else should we use?
Scott

A good mix of stuff (different materials, sizes, shapes).
Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992

 

[ScottandSam]

A good mix of stuff (different materials, sizes, shapes).
Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992

Thanks aart. I cant seem to get the link to work. I'm having a hard time with the new site. I've figured some things out but so many broken links in articles and in some threads. I do a lot of digging and really never have much luck with search yet. I'll figure it out the more I hang out this winter.

Scott

 

[Molpet]

Thanks aart. I cant seem to get the link to work. I'm having a hard time with the new site. I've figured some things out but so many broken links in articles and in some threads. I do a lot of digging and really never have much luck with search yet. I'll figure it out the more I hang out this winter.

Scott

umm link worked for me
"When creating a bird habitat, think of where the wild fowl live....in the forest. Recreate that floor and you'll start to see and smell a huge difference in where your chickens live and they will be healthier and more content. Leaves, twigs, bark, small amounts of straw or hay~small, mind you, pine needles and cones, wood chips, etc. As deep as you can build it. No more mud, no more bad smells or flies. The litter pack acts like a big sponge, wicking moisture down, leaving the top springy and dryer. It keeps the soil under the run from becoming too compacted, thus allowing the rains to take the excess nitrogen of the manure down to the worms that will ascend under the litter for that nutrition. Try to avoid too much of any one material unless it would be leaves...that's mostly what you will find decaying on the forest floor. A lot of people want to use wood shavings but they are expensive and all one particle size, not letting air into the pile. Wood chips would be a better option than shavings, if you can get them as they have varying particle size and contain leaf matter.

You create food, activity and healthier footing for your chickens in one, cheap, easy to maintain move. You can then throw lawn clippings, garden refuse, kitchen scraps, weeds, etc. into that litter pack and what the chickens don't eat they will bury and the worms will consume it. They will be living on a living compost pile instead of a slick, muddy, poopy moonscape filled with little pools of putrid water.

And you can do the same thing in your coop:

"