Deep litter method

[Beekissed]

Thanks armorfirelady and bear foot farm. I've been thinking over the placement of these. Do you have them on your north sides? I don't know where your prevailing winds come from in the winter but mine come from every direction but east and only occasionally here do they come from the east.

I'd put them right under or near your roosts...that's where most of the humidity will arise each night and having a convection of air flowing up past that area to move the humidity upwards and out will be of the most benefit. When I opened up a similar area under my roosts is when I got to see how that worked and it was great. It's not like a breeze, just a rise of fresh air and that is the kind that will not steal body warmth, just move humidity.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: I do, but only because it was most convenient.

It really doesn't make much difference since they are louvered and can be adjusted to keep wind from blowing in directly.

Mine can even be closed completely, although I never do it
They are similar to these:

 

[bluebirdnanny]

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. 

This is the theory behind the open air coop 'woods style' I am almost finished with the outside. The front has hardware wire (small mesh) and always open....the monitor windows (push out at bottom) are screened with the hardware on inside and are the "exhaust" hatch if you will. A window on the two sides provide cross ventilation on warm days. The roosts are in back which is closed more and faces the prevailing winds. So sun and air enter monitor windows, side windows and the front. Air circulates keeping dry bedding and moisture down with the monitor windows between the two slanted roofs. ie monitor windows vertical between the split roofing with rear higher than front roof.

A person I know runs one way in the north where it is almost always cold and heavy snow in winter with no heat or light. No problems at all. I'm doing it with deep liter this year.

 

[Beekissed]

That sounds very interesting! Could you post a pic of it when you can? It might be a good thing for others who want to know how to construct a coop for living in colder climates. I once saw coops from back in the early 1900s that were built in Wisconsin and they had a particular style of construction that was sort of bi-level, with the front of the coop and the front of the top portion of the upper level open to air...don't know what the name of that style is but if I find a pic of it I'll post it. Anyhoo, this guy was building coops like that and using them where he lived and said the chickens were snug as a bug in a rug in the winter, even with all that open window space.

Found it!!! Been looking for this thread for a long time!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/445004/woods-style-house-in-the-winter

 

[Lacy Blues]

I'm going to post some diagrams on here, hopefully they'll come out ok and you'll be able to see them.

I would love to have a woods style house... but alas... no money (or very little anyway).

First up will be my "floor plan." This is a pre-existing "building" that was here when we bought the place. It provides cover and shelter from the wind. It measures 24' x 24'. (I just added to the mixed breed flock's pen an addition of 7'x8'. My side (Andalusians) measures 16 x 24. I have 4x4 cock pens on the east wall and two smaller ones on the south wall... like so...

​

I have so many cock pens because I am a breeder of Andalusians. I try to maintain 3 lines, each of which needs a back-up rooster.

In the northeast corner of each of my cock's pens is a mini-poop board. It measures 16"x24" and is about 24-30" off the floor to provide an area for roosting without losing any floor space.



I'm wondering if a 2" hole under each of the mini-poop boards will be sufficient ventilation if its done in each pen? The pens in my daughter's side has the poop boards in the southwest corners. We get north and northwesterly winds in the winter and so these vents would be in the direct line of fire. Would that be too much?

Diagram of 4x4 cock pens showing prospective vent placement.


Please let me know if this size vent and its placement will work.

 

[Arielle]

The place where I work is always looking for what they call "Green Ideas" Instead of throwing out the saw dust they are giving it away to employees to use as farm bedding. Jack Pot I don't have to buy wood shavings anymore.

SCORE!!!! Nice. I have changed my cats litter to pine shavings from a local shop-- they love it. NO more purchased cat litter.

Thank you. I have lots of ventilation over their heads. Maybe I need to open up the floor area some. How to do it without letting in predators will be my issue. I'll be thinking on this. Thanks again.

Oh, and my hens have not had any issues with frostbite at all. It has been only the males with their big combs.

http://books.google.com/books?id=o0...&resnum=2&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

THis is a link to one of the Wood-style coop books by Dr Woods. I am trying this design as I am not overly happy with any of my other coops. It has an interesting design concept where the north/west section is completely enclosed at the roof line and depends on windows in specific locations to provide lot of fresh air movement.

THe information on the flooring needs to be updated IMO. I plan to use the deep litter method rather than use precious floor boards or try to elevate the structure. Iwill need some help tryng to set this up. I"ve not had good luck getting deep litter going-- mostly how not to do it. lol Still willing to try though until I get it right. I have pine shavings and pine dust and leaves and sticks available right now. Make 8 inches of this mix??

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
That's a good start but you can just keep adding as time goes along. I find it composts better and holds moisture in the bottom layers if the litter is deeper. Mine composts so well on a soil floor that it just disappears, much like mulch in a garden that just dwindles away in a season. The leaves are very fast to disintegrate, so the pine shavings give my litter more body and bulk, but I add just about anything I can get my hands on to create depth.

Here's some pics of things I've added...and some things I have no pic for, such as an old turtle shell, twigs, small branches, an old possum jaw, deer hair, pine needles, hay, etc.












Below is what it generally looks like...just a mix of a little of everything....

 

[Arielle]

I'm going to post some diagrams on here, hopefully they'll come out ok and you'll be able to see them.

I would love to have a woods style house... but alas... no money (or very little anyway).

First up will be my "floor plan." This is a pre-existing "building" that was here when we bought the place. It provides cover and shelter from the wind. It measures 24' x 24'. (I just added to the mixed breed flock's pen an addition of 7'x8'. My side (Andalusians) measures 16 x 24. I have 4x4 cock pens on the east wall and two smaller ones on the south wall... like so...

​

I have so many cock pens because I am a breeder of Andalusians. I try to maintain 3 lines, each of which needs a back-up rooster.

In the northeast corner of each of my cock's pens is a mini-poop board. It measures 16"x24" and is about 24-30" off the floor to provide an area for roosting without losing any floor space.



I'm wondering if a 2" hole under each of the mini-poop boards will be sufficient ventilation if its done in each pen? The pens in my daughter's side has the poop boards in the southwest corners. We get north and northwesterly winds in the winter and so these vents would be in the direct line of fire. Would that be too much?

Diagram of 4x4 cock pens showing prospective vent placement.


Please let me know if this size vent and its placement will work.

ONe of the factors that I have noticed is how much of the air is replaced and how often. DOn't know the technical tems. When we built our house, we place a fan centrally pulling air to the middle of the house, down a tube and out of the house. THe purpose is obvious. We can control the exchange by increasing the speed of the fan. THe "in" vents were supposed to be louved vents cut into the outside walls. At the last minute the company told us that recent studies showed that the leakage around the windows provided enough fresh air due to the negative pressure in the house.

Right now we leave windows slightly open. Even with a fan, the room with my 2 boys gets too hot and stuffy over night. ANd it is October!!

In the diagram above , if the door is open, why the vent?? Is one in and the other out?? Not clear why you need two openings. I"m sure I"m just missing something.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

That's a good start but you can just keep adding as time goes along. I find it composts better and holds moisture in the bottom layers if the litter is deeper. Mine composts so well on a soil floor that it just disappears, much like mulch in a garden that just dwindles away in a season. The leaves are very fast to disintegrate, so the pine shavings give my litter more body and bulk, but I add just about anything I can get my hands on to create depth.

Here's some pics of things I've added...and some things I have no pic for, such as an old turtle shell, twigs, small branches, an old possum jaw, deer hair, pine needles, hay, etc.












Below is what it generally looks like...just a mix of a little of everything....

GReat. Now I feel better. I often rake leaves, sticks and all and dump into the coops or runs. Just need to make it deeper. THank you Beekissed!!

 

[ADKegger]

Composting? How long does your bedding have to sit before it is suitable for placing on my garden. I am a newbie to chickens and I keep hearing how wonderful chicken manure is for my garden.

Any information is appreciated.