Deep litter method

[niqueie]

We all get wet litter in the run from time to time with the weather, and most of us live where it has time to dry out, mostly on the top. Not sure how it goes in extremely wet climates. In the coop though where there isn't as much ventilation as outside, try and keep it dryer on top. If it gets really wet in the coop then move it around with a rake to avoid soaked areas. It will moisten the coop bedding. Usually the birds will dig through after you have moved it around to find tidbits. Then it will dry out on the top eventually. Hope that helps.

 

[Beekissed]

Okay, I'm with ya, Bee...got tons of leaves we can start with and some other stuff to get it going. But if it's supposed to be dry on top and moist underneath, how do you keep it dry during spring storms and snow melt? Now, you know me pretty well, and you know I was planning to use sand. But the more I read, the more I'm convinced that I was wrong - YES, YOU HEARD ME! - and that I might want to do the DL in both the coop and the run. I'm not trying to be a smart alec, I've just been hearing the mantra, "Dry, dry, dry" and in my run set up that's a little tough. Help me, O Wise One!

The beauty of a deep litter pack is when it gets a good soaking the healthy, spongy soils under the DL will absorb the fluid quickly, the nutrients really drain into the soils when that happens and the worms and bugs respond accordingly. This creates even more openings in the soil where the fluid can be absorbed as the worms tunnel upward from beneath. You'll find the top of the DL will look dry in just a couple of days of the soaking as this good drainage and absorption takes place. What you'll also find is your chickens doing a massive excavation of the DL to get the bounty of bugs and worms, thus aerating the layers even more, hastening the drying of the litter.

If you have sustained rains and snows and it stays wet all the time, that would be no different than if you had barren, packed down and slick dirt/mud in the run or if you had sand, so any floor you have at that point will stay wet....the only difference is the DL will be a healthy wet~no mud, no stinking, wet, fly covered poop slick and no stinking, sodden sand~ and the other two, not so much.

Take a look at Rosemarie's run pics...pure heaven for chickens! It's large and she uses long pine needles in the run. She found out just what DL does for the soil when she was working on the run and moved that DL for a bit....underneath the soil was darker, loamier than the soil right next to it outside the pen.

If I were you, in the winter months I'd place tarps on your hoops to keep out most of the snow and on the one side of your run that gets the most rain and snow, I'd place another tarp. This gives your birds a place to get exercise out of the coop and your litter will still get moisture but it won't be thick with snow when the chooks would like to go outside. You'll really want that for them come winter...that coop can get mighty small when they all have to stay indoors all the time.

 

[RoseMarie1]

The beauty of a deep litter pack is when it gets a good soaking the healthy, spongy soils under the DL will absorb the fluid quickly, the nutrients really drain into the soils when that happens and the worms and bugs respond accordingly. This creates even more openings in the soil where the fluid can be absorbed as the worms tunnel upward from beneath. You'll find the top of the DL will look dry in just a couple of days of the soaking as this good drainage and absorption takes place. What you'll also find is your chickens doing a massive excavation of the DL to get the bounty of bugs and worms, thus aerating the layers even more, hastening the drying of the litter.

If you have sustained rains and snows and it stays wet all the time, that would be no different than if you had barren, packed down and slick dirt/mud in the run or if you had sand, so any floor you have at that point will stay wet....the only difference is the DL will be a healthy wet~no mud, no stinking, wet, fly covered poop slick and no stinking, sodden sand~ and the other two, not so much.

Take a look at Rosemarie's run pics...pure heaven for chickens! It's large and she uses long pine needles in the run. She found out just what DL does for the soil when she was working on the run and moved that DL for a bit....underneath the soil was darker, loamier than the soil right next to it outside the pen.

If I were you, in the winter months I'd place tarps on your hoops to keep out most of the snow and on the one side of your run that gets the most rain and snow, I'd place another tarp. This gives your birds a place to get exercise out of the coop and your litter will still get moisture but it won't be thick with snow when the chooks would like to go outside. You'll really want that for them come winter...that coop can get mighty small when they all have to stay indoors all the time.

And when you add the tarp, be SURE to arch it with PVC pipes because you will have a POND in your tarp if you don't AND it will stretch your chicken wire like you aint never seen. I had to poke a HOLE IN MY TARP to get the pond of water out because I NOR hubby could push it up with our arms to dump out the water. The wire/water/pond had stretched it so until the wire was ALMOST touching the ground and it's a good 6 foot plus tall to the roof of the run.

 

[Blooie]

The beauty of a deep litter pack is when it gets a good soaking the healthy, spongy soils under the DL will absorb the fluid quickly, the nutrients really drain into the soils when that happens and the worms and bugs respond accordingly. This creates even more openings in the soil where the fluid can be absorbed as the worms tunnel upward from beneath. You'll find the top of the DL will look dry in just a couple of days of the soaking as this good drainage and absorption takes place. What you'll also find is your chickens doing a massive excavation of the DL to get the bounty of bugs and worms, thus aerating the layers even more, hastening the drying of the litter.

If you have sustained rains and snows and it stays wet all the time, that would be no different than if you had barren, packed down and slick dirt/mud in the run or if you had sand, so any floor you have at that point will stay wet....the only difference is the DL will be a healthy wet~no mud, no stinking, wet, fly covered poop slick and no stinking, sodden sand~ and the other two, not so much.

And when you add the tarp, be SURE to arch it with PVC pipes because you will have a POND in your tarp if you don't AND it will stretch your chicken wire like you aint never seen. I had to poke a HOLE IN MY TARP to get the pond of water out because I NOR hubby could push it up with our arms to dump out the water. The wire/water/pond had stretched it so until the wire was ALMOST touching the ground and it's a good 6 foot plus tall to the roof of the run.

Will I still need to add the arch of PVC with this setup, RoseMarie? The arch is pretty steep already, and the cattle panels support the chicken wire really well.....fenceposts are also anchored well and pretty deeply because of winds here. And I assume that the 1/4 inch hardware cloth going all the way around and 2 feet up the run will help keep the litter from flying out in the winds too....at least I hope so? Well, looks like I' going from an initial plan of sand to DL in the run. Thank you both! So helpful to be able to bounce ideas off someone else.

 

[niqueie]

That's a nice coop. It will be very safe with the 1/4 inch hardware cloth around the bottom. You might want to get long enough to lay on the ground outside to prevent any diggers. It does look very sturdy.

 

[Blooie]

That's a nice coop. It will be very safe with the 1/4 inch hardware cloth around the bottom. You might want to get long enough to lay on the ground outside to prevent any diggers. It does look very sturdy.

Thank you. The hardware cloth does go out from the bottom of the coop and the run by about 12 inches....it kinda starts 2 feet up the run, then runs down, "folds" out where the run meets the ground, and then extends outward. This photo was taken the day we finished the run, and before the hardware cloth went down. We wanted to make it one continual flow without a lot of cuts instead of having it broken up where this or that was located, so we waited until after the door and the tunnel were finished to put it down. Any critter trying to dig his way into this coop/run is going to just ruin her nails, and probably leave a lot of paw skin behind!

 

[Beekissed]

So dry in the coop is good, not so dry outside the coop is still okay. It will be awhile before that soaking down will happen when I'm first getting the DL going out there. I don't imagine that that healthy spongy soil happens overnight and our clay soil is pretty hardpacked. And tarps in the winter. Got it. Thanks, O Wise One -

Will I still need to add the arch of PVC with this setup, RoseMarie? The arch is pretty steep already, and the cattle panels support the chicken wire really well.....fenceposts are also anchored well and pretty deeply because of winds here. And I assume that the 1/4 inch hardware cloth going all the way around and 2 feet up the run will help keep the litter from flying out in the winds too....at least I hope so? Well, looks like I' going from an initial plan of sand to DL in the run. Thank you both! So helpful to be able to bounce ideas off someone else.

No, Blooie, you'll still need some moisture in the coop too....that will come with the natural moisture of the feces and the ambient humidity and as you build a deep pack, but you might also lace your bedding with water in the dry season to keep the composting organisms going and to cut the dust. I just empty my dirty water from waterers into the middle of the coop and under the roosts where most of the manure is concentrated.....but only if you are really dry and dusty there, mind you.

The cattle panel arches will work perfectly to keep your tarps in good shape and to provide drainage. If you get really deep snows you might want to provide additional bracing under that arch with some wood due to the weight of the snow crushing your panels. It's a rare possibility but it's happened to folks who have long CP tunnels for their coops...anything longer than 2 panels seems to be vulnerable.

 

[armorfirelady]

Bee I used 2 cattle panels for my coop and it's had almost 3 ft of snow on top and only sagged a little. Heck I was on top of it last week putting tar around the roof vents and it held me just fine I did shovel snow off it when it got high because the snow was wet heavy snow. It easily came off with a broom or shovel.

I just recently got a free billboard and recovered the coop. Hopefully it last many years but I have the rest of the billboard stored away if it doesn't,

And I splurged on some extra heavy duty clear plastic for the ends. Lots of light in there for our dreary winter days. The clear plastic is up in this picture but you can not even tell. I need to turn up the sides for the spring/summer so they get some more ventilation in there

 

[Lacy Blues]

Just a thought... Do you plan to keep that black covering on that coop for summer? My black vehicle gets mighty hot in the summer, even with the windows down.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm going to revamp my hoop coop this spring also and may start a thread on it and the progress. I'll be able to get some shots of the deep litter in the process and show what it looks like underneath there.

I can't wait to do this coop tweak....I'm going to try to turn it into a little mini barn with scrap lumber on my end caps, some actual shutters over the window spaces that can be closed for winter time if need be and with clear tarps for winter months and a bikini top tarp over those in the summer months to reflect the sun and provide shade in the coop.