Deep litter method

[armorfirelady]

I have read that when you do the deep litter method you should add a thin layer of diamaceous earth (DE) to the little to help keep the litter dry

You seriously do not need DE in your litter to keep it dry or fresh.  I've never used DE and my coop smells of nothing...literally..just earthy but no smells of manure or chicken, even after it rains and the bedding is wet from it.  DL can be managed quite simply with the use of ventilation and judicious addition of the right materials...these can be found cheaply or even free, depending upon where you live. 

DE is nonspecific in its action and can kill beneficial bugs you may be wanting in your DL to help break down the manure there so that it binds more easily with your carbonaceous materials. 

X2. I have never used it before either. Dry coop and no smells. I tend to rake under the roost a couple times a week to mix the poop piles in. But the DL I just removed you couldn't tell the poop from grass and shavings. And no smell at all as I put it bags. And no wetness at all. Good ventilation is the one of the keys to keep it dry in my opinion.

And I agree with bee about ecoli and samonella. I've never had problems putting the DL right in to my veggie garden. They will have access to the compost. If they are to dumb toe at something they shouldn't I don't want them. And is te veggies all summer and no one got sick from them. And I put horse manure in there to. Hens love to scratch thru it.

 

[lahaskell]

I have my chickens in an OLD wood grain bin & so there's plenty of "natural" ventilation. I almost worry it will be too much for our cold northern winters, but everything i read says to have plenty of ventilation.

Do you add all your wood chips at once or do you keep adding them throughout the winter?

Thank you, you're all so helpful!

 

[armorfirelady]

I live near buffalo,ny we tend to make the headlines when we get our storms. :/. My hens survived just fine. The bottom half of the coop that faces east was open all winter. The girls favorite roost was AT&T hat end above the open area. No frostbite and healthy warm chickens.

My hoop coop is set up the same, lots of ventilation. Here is how I decide btw a draft and ventilation. If you can feel wind coming from somewhere that's a draft. If its above or below their roost its ok. In their area where they spend the most time they need to be able to be on the ground with no drafts as well. My ventilation spots have little covers over them to keep rain and wind out so they are fine for winter. The sides that are normally up all summer will be put down for winter to keep cold winds out, but the south end is open and will remain that way as long as snow doesn't blow in. If it does than plastic will be put up to keep snow out but with enough areas open to allow ventilation.

If I have totally confused you then check out my hoop coop its should be a link under my name

 

[Beekissed]

I have my chickens in an OLD wood grain bin & so there's plenty of "natural" ventilation. I almost worry it will be too much for our cold northern winters, but everything i read says to have plenty of ventilation.

Do you add all your wood chips at once or do you keep adding them throughout the winter?

Thank you, you're all so helpful!

Depending on the size of your coop whether you just dump in a bag of shavings...I just add a layer of about 4-6 in. first and go from there. If you have leaves or other lawn debris, throw that in to the mix. Anything that is dry and will let the manure bind with something carbon will work. I'm presently raking and storing leaves for use this winter. The leaves break down rather quickly, so if you are storing them, store a lot! Remember to poke several holes in your bags if storing in plastic bags...the leaves will need some air.

Every other day or so, I will fork some bedding over top the poop under the roosts if the chickens haven't worked it in already...every once in awhile they go in there and plow throughout the whole coop and the bedding gets redistributed.

As time goes along, just add new bedding when you see your DL either too moist or if it's disappearing...I have a soil floor, so mine just disappears into the soil. The grass around this coop has turned a deep, lush green color this past year and you can even see the flush of nutrients coming from it in streaks down through the yard where the water has washed it away from the coop.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

Most of that was answered in the post above yours

I read that as entire piles of manure was added to the garden-- rather than the girls cruising thru now and then.

THank you for the clarification.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Depending on the size of your coop whether you just dump in a bag of shavings...I just add a layer of about 4-6 in. first and go from there. If you have leaves or other lawn debris, throw that in to the mix. Anything that is dry and will let the manure bind with something carbon will work. I'm presently raking and storing leaves for use this winter. The leaves break down rather quickly, so if you are storing them, store a lot! Remember to poke several holes in your bags if storing in plastic bags...the leaves will need some air.

Every other day or so, I will fork some bedding over top the poop under the roosts if the chickens haven't worked it in already...every once in awhile they go in there and plow throughout the whole coop and the bedding gets redistributed.

As time goes along, just add new bedding when you see your DL either too moist or if it's disappearing...I have a soil floor, so mine just disappears into the soil. The grass around this coop has turned a deep, lush green color this past year and you can even see the flush of nutrients coming from it in streaks down through the yard where the water has washed it away from the coop.

So that lets you know it's working!

 

[Lacy Blues]

I have my chickens in an OLD wood grain bin & so there's plenty of "natural" ventilation. I almost worry it will be too much for our cold northern winters, but everything i read says to have plenty of ventilation.

Do you add all your wood chips at once or do you keep adding them throughout the winter?

Thank you, you're all so helpful!

On the sides where you receive your wind in the winter, you need to block it with something so they aren't getting drafts. It will kill them.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't know that it will kill them but it can make them uncomfortable and it's always nice to have a wind block to put their backs up against while roosting. I've seen many a bird roosting in trees all winter in some VERY cold, windy, damp, high altitude places and they didn't die, so the whole drafts thing isn't really a chicken killer.

 

[Lacy Blues]

In my experience here Bee, the first winter, We had birds inside a barn that had the entire south side open... should have been ok. Well, it wasn't. One bird in particular, a bantam, got that wind when it changed directions and in the morning he had ice in his mouth. He died not long after.

We've also had some pretty bad issues with frostbite on our birds combs. Many of them lost all their points and now have bumps on top of the main body of the comb. Had to be pretty painful. These seemed to happen on nights where there didn't seem to be much wind at all... so I don't know what to do. This winter is supposed to be really bad and I've got to figure out where the drafts are coming from as we have solid doors now and though that helped this past winter, we still had frostbite.

 

[Beekissed]

I've found frost bite to be due to moisture and not so much from wind. Others have reported the same. High humidity in the coop from the birds breathing and the moisture rising to settle on combs and wattles then freezing there. The key seems to be dry and cold vs. wet and cold.

The last coop I had I got frost bite on the rooster's combs the first year when I had them all buckled down with no cracks open to the wind and only the pop door open at night. When I opened up some of the cracks I had covered and also a larger opening at the floor level, it took care of the problem. Same temps, same winters, same coop, same birds, same roosts...different levels of ventilation. More ventilation, more cracks open on that old coop and a big ol' hole cut out at the floor level seemed to take care of the problem and a few years later we had temps into the single digits for an extended period of time and no frost bite. The last time I had frost bite was when I had my coop sewn up too tightly...when I got good air flow going past my roosting that brought fresh air in at the bottom and let it leave out the top, I was golden.

I know it seems like that is working from opposite ends, but it worked. I took the advice of an OT on that and he was right....coop too tight, frostbite. Nice airy coop, no frost bite.