Deep litter method

[Beekissed]

@Beekissed , a quandary for you to ponder, since you are the expert. We are doing deep litter, but with ducks. My ladies are finally laying, but they are burying their eggs. They have a nest box, but change their spots every day, and I have to use the rake and search, so I'm turning over the litter much too much, I think. I am not sure if there's anything I can do about this, but figured I'd ask!

I'm no expert on this...just learning along with the rest of you! Ducks in a coop is out of my territory, that's for sure. Maybe make the nesting areas more private and use the most natural nesting materials you can find...I know they like long grasses for nesting, so maybe use a dirt base, then hay, and then a few leaves in the nesting box if you are not already? Then I'd take their eggs and leave them in the nesting areas for a couple of days without gathering them so they are encouraged to lay in a "safe" nest.

After a nesting site has been raided they are less likely to lay there again, so you might consider some wooden eggs or other fake eggs to leave in the nests to give them the sense that these are nests that are not getting raided daily. Ducks are quirkier than chickens, that's one thing I do know about them....maybe a little less domesticated.

 

[Kris64]

If the concern is that the litter is getting turned too frequently, I don't think that's a problem and may actually be a plus instead. To make a compost pile break down faster, one recommendation is to turn it daily. So this should be the same for DL.

 

[Beekissed]

That depends on if the compost is moist or dry. In a coop it has a tendency to dry out if flipped or turned too often, then it doesn't compost at all and just lies there. If one is adding a variety of size and types of materials the air spaces needed for composting should be adequately present to help with composting.

 

[Beekissed]

Added old hay, straw and some wood chips to the DL under the roosts...want to preserve the moisture there before closing things down for cold weather(usually I get plenty of rain into the coop when I leave windows wide open). Even the wood chips were wet, which I wanted, as parts of my coop are dry as dust...which is okay also as the girls will need somewhere to dust this winter. I was running slim on bedding materials...it had all composted down into mulch/soil underneath the roosts and the poop had nothing with which to bind.

Took pics of the litter....










This is the DL in the front of the coop...mostly just dust, making it hard to toss to the back of the coop to cover poops.




Soon I'll be filling the whole coop with leaves and storing many bags of same. I'll rake them in to about a foot or more deep, let the birds stomp that down and do that again and again before the leaves are no more. From then on out it's stored leaves, the stray sprinkle of hay or so and maybe more wood chips if I can haul some before snow flies.

 

[layne517]

I have a question. I am very new to all this chicken raising so please bear with me

I have been using about 4" deep construction grade sand in my coop and run. I have it mixed with DE and up to now it's been OK. However, after reading this thread, I think I'd like to switch to the DL method. I'm kind of a clean freak so I clean my coop out every day, so the thought of only having to do it once a year sounds fantastic! My question is can I start the DL over the sand, or do I need to clean it all out and start over?

 

[Blooie]

Some might say to go ahead, but I'm not one of them. Sand will compact and adding DL on top will just end up giving you a soggy mess eventually. DL works it's magic best when it comes into contact with the ground (dirt) under it. Personally, I'm also not a fan of DE in deep litter. Why use a product that will kill the very bugs you are wanting in your DL to help break it down?

Welcome to BYC!

 

[layne517]

Some might say to go ahead, but I'm not one of them. Sand will compact and adding DL on top will just end up giving you a soggy mess eventually. DL works it's magic best when it comes into contact with the ground (dirt) under it. Personally, I'm also not a fan of DE in deep litter. Why use a product that will kill the very bugs you are wanting in your DL to help break it down?

Welcome to BYC!

Thanks Blooie. Maybe it's best I wait till spring when it's time to clear out the sand. My coop floor is concrete, so maybe DL won't work for me anyway.

 

[Blooie]

Oh, you can make DL work on just about anything - folks use it over concrete, dirt, linoleum..... I'm sure those who do will be more than happy to chime with their experiences! But in the overall scheme of things, dirt seems to be the best substrate. That just doesn't mean it's the only substrate.

 

[Beekissed]

The only way you'll ever know is to try it. Just jump in and start composting materials right in the coop and run on top of the sand and DE and see what happens. Anything is better than sand and DE, so throwing leaves, grasses, pine needles, yard wastes, etc. on top of it can't really hurt. I'd throw in some fresh, rich soil or compost first to get it started and then see what happens...by spring you should know if you've successfully achieved a working deep litter.

I'd avoid using wood shavings or straw, though, as they take forever to decompose even in a coop with a soil floor. I'd use materials of different size and composting times, build it deep and leave it be~don't stir it all the time, in other words. Just flip the manure in the top layers and send it down into the under layers....keep the underneath a tad moist, keep good ventilation throughout the coop and see what happens.

The only way you'll ever know is to try it yourself...the best kind of knowledge is practical, first hand knowledge.

 

[Blooie]

The only way you'll ever know is to try it. Just jump in and start composting materials right in the coop and run on top of the sand and DE and see what happens. Anything is better than sand and DE, so throwing leaves, grasses, pine needles, yard wastes, etc. on top of it can't really hurt. I'd throw in some fresh, rich soil or compost first to get it started and then see what happens...by spring you should know if you've successfully achieved a working deep litter.

I'd avoid using wood shavings or straw, though, as they take forever to decompose even in a coop with a soil floor. I'd use materials of different size and composting times, build it deep and leave it be~don't stir it all the time, in other words. Just flip the manure in the top layers and send it down into the under layers....keep the underneath a tad moist, keep good ventilation throughout the coop and see what happens.

The only way you'll ever know is to try it yourself...the best kind of knowledge is practical, first hand knowledge.

I was hoping you'd chime in here, O Queen of the Castle of Deep Litter!

If anyone knows this DL stuff inside out it's you, and your litter is beautiful. Thanks for helping. I'D be interested to see how DL does with sand, too. I really didn't think it would do anything but make a mess, but it ain't like I've never been wrong before!