Deep litter method

[RoseMarie1]

Oh that's awesome Lacy! Congrats!

You also helping them I'm sure by getting all that outta their way!

 

[Lacy Blues]

Got 9 more bags today and only got about half of it cleaned up. More to gather tomorrow. This collection has gleanings from beneath a pear tree that was not well picked. Lots of nice juicy pears in there for the chooks to chow down on! I was SO VERY JEALOUS! You guys should have seen the soil underneath all those leaves today! Ugh! If they knew the gold they were giving away, they'd never let me take them! Perhaps before too long I can have some sections of earth that look just as good!

 

[Beekissed]

That's what Rosemarie found out when she moved the DL in her run and saw how dark the soil was under it already. It's a quick way to bring beneficial bugs up and into the soil to work on the litter and convert it to rich topsoil.

What a score! You'll have enough for the coop and run and also the garden. What great soil you'll have next spring!

 

[yogifink]

Wondering what everyone’s opinion is on keeping moisture in their DL. You need moisture for the pile to compost correctly, but, moisture is bad for the chickens in their coop/run, particularly in the winter. My DL is in an enclosed run that does not see any moisture unless I add it. The mix is good, doesn't smell, about a foot deep and is a nice pile of debris to add to the compost.

 

[Beekissed]

Wondering what everyone’s opinion is on keeping moisture in their DL. You need moisture for the pile to compost correctly, but, moisture is bad for the chickens in their coop/run, particularly in the winter. My DL is in an enclosed run that does not see any moisture unless I add it. The mix is good, doesn't smell, about a foot deep and is a nice pile of debris to add to the compost.

I've found that it can have plenty of moisture in the lower layers of the DL and the top layers stay very dry...almost like a wicking action going on, wherein any moisture that is deposited is immediately absorbed into the driest areas but the mix doesn't stay moist in the top part of the litter that comes in contact with the chickens. Particularly if the coop has good ventilation..seems like any excess moisture at the top of the litter evaporates if it is not drawn into the middle and lower parts of the litter.

I think ventilation is the key to it all.

 

[fosterson]

I've found that it can have plenty of moisture in the lower layers of the DL and the top layers stay very dry...almost like a wicking action going on, wherein any moisture that is deposited is immediately absorbed into the driest areas but the mix doesn't stay moist in the top part of the litter that comes in contact with the chickens. Particularly if the coop has good ventilation..seems like any excess moisture at the top of the litter evaporates if it is not drawn into the middle and lower parts of the litter.

I think ventilation is the key to it all.

I'll agree with Bee. Once I got my mix to a proper depth, it just sort of tends to itself. I go in about once a week and clean out all the nest boxes and add that to the floor (or sooner if one of my dirty birds decides to try to roost in it...dagnabbit), along with a light layer of either shavings or straw or leaves. Seems to be working GREAT. No chickeny smell, no moisture, and the hens keep the top layer nicely turned for me to boot!

 

[armorfirelady]

Just a reminder for those who got snow. Make sure you brush off your vents........I walked in the coop yesterday & thought, huh why does it smell in here? Then I realized the 6 inches of snow we got is probably blocking both the side & roof vents. I got the broom out and brushed them off and its much better in there. I also put the window in the screen door down some more since snow hasn't blown in that end.

The broom is now situated next to the coop for ease & I gave them a bag of leaves to distrubute as well since apparently the white stuff scares them lol
Tho they did venture out for grapes......grab one and ran back in & continued that till they were gone. Silly hens

 

[Cknldy]

Just for laughs- daughter opens run door and bumps head walking in..."why is the ceiling so much lower?!" Uh, I cleared it all out at the beginning of summer but it's called deep litter. The 6' ceiling didn't come down, the ground went up! ;-) Let's remember to make runs even taller for the deep litter!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Where do you buy the eucalyptus oil???

I'm curious as to how the north end was kept open-- usually it is the east or south-- you clearly had a plan in mind keeping the north open. Really curious.

 

[armorfirelady]

 

 
I'm 2-3 weeks in and I don't think my coop stinks.  I have 5 bantams, they don't stir much up, so I have been but I think it smells better than the sand which I scooped every day.  

DL to me follows my husbandry for chickens......KISS (keep it simple)

I do rake under the roost to get everything in a big pile for them to scatter around again. And I do like to spray some eucalyptus oil with water on the roost in the nesting box but that's for my benefit mostly not theirs. Tho eucalyptus is a natural bug deterrent. 

Bee I surround the outside of the hoop coop with hay/straw bales when we had high winds it was wind free n the coop. The north end has no bales and its pretty open for ventilation.  I am hoping when the snow storm gets here this weekend that my set up keeps the snow out 

Where do you buy the eucalyptus oil???  

I'm curious as to how the north end was kept open-- usually it is the east or south-- you clearly had a plan in mind keeping the north open. Really curious. 

I got the eucalyptus oil from a local health food store.

For whatever reason the winds here seem to come from the southwest/east mostly, I don't know why but if I keep the north end open ( only partly when the winds do come from that way) there is less winds/snow/rain that gets in. But the south ends seems to be the windiest. I have hills to my south a few miles so maybe that's why? Regardless that's just what I've found here. Of course the house is on the north side of the coop. It's about 500 ft away so maybe it protects that end some? I do have a window in the south end to let more sunlight in tho