Deep litter method

[Fire Ant Farm]

I poured another bucket of water in the DL under the roosts, this time on the right side. I checked the DL on the left side where I had poured the water the day before yesterday and it was noticeably warmer under there. I think I need to be more diligent in adding water in that mass this season, as the leakiness of my coop took care of all of that last year.

Guess that's what I get for tweaking the coop too well.

If I'm still here next season I'm going to devise a system of rain guttering that will funnel some rain into that area for me using runoff from the dog house roof. No need to carry water when it's all around that coop, just needs a way to get inside and into the DL.

I opened that back window next to the roosts up by a foot today to allow any humidity rising from that added moisture to go up and out better.

I think I'm having this problem in one of my coops - it's very dusty in there, and I think the bedding is too dry. I'm going to start watering it (alternating locations).

 

[akchickenman]

If I were to do a small flock like that, I would start in the spring if possible, and put a fairly light level of bedding in the coup, keeping a good mix of things but mostly things that break down faster, more grass and leaf types than pine shavings, when it starts getting covered, toss a few more handfuls in on top of the poopy bedding, so you make layers, bedding, light layer of poop, then bedding, until you get it close to the depth you want. Also, if you can get away with it without it freezing instantly, I would empty the water into a different spot in the floor each time you empty it, let some of the moisture go into the bottom layers. if it stays really dry, it won't break down, but it also shouldn't release too much ammonia either.

So, maybe cook it good and keep it moist in the "warm" weather with lots of ventilation and then close it up and dry it out some for winter.

Would you recommend still adding water to it in the winter, or just let the moisture from the summer additions cook over the winter without adding new moisture (other than what the chickens add themselves)?

 

[Kusanar]

Quote:
See, I'm in Virginia, this coup is in Alaska, so I don't know. Here, I would reccomend to keep putting small amounts of water in to keep it cooking, but there, I don't know, it may freeze solid if you keep it moist, or if there isn't enough ventilation and you keep the bedding moist, the litter will steam some from cooking and could frost bite the birds... Wish I could help more, but my idea of bitter cold is 10 degrees for more than 2 days... all winter... I was in a t-shirt yesterday and it's going to be nearly 70 this weekend, so if it froze here, it would be thawed in a day or less no worries.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: I have 6 hens and use deep litter with them. During the winter I don't add water. It stays moist enough to continue to break down. It seems that the little bit of snow that may blow in, along with snow brought in on my feet & the hens is enough to help break it down.

If I add water its in the summer when its dusty. But I empty out my coop into the veggie garden in the spring, so there is very little DL in the coop till the fall when I start adding to it again.

I would think depending where you live in Alaska, you should be ok moisture wise during the winter.

 

[akchickenman]

Quote: Thanks for the input! I am in Anchorage and it stays very dry during the winter for the most part. Moisture issues will happen during the summer, I think, due to all the rain we get.

 

[annagoodspeed]

Hi All,

I have been doing what I think is deep litter for two seasons, but am experiencing a hang up with ammonia buildup during the winter and spring thaws. Also, I am not sure if I should be aiming for a dry, dessicating situation or a moist composting one. I have cold winters here, with the last two having an extended period of hard freezing, with nights in the twenties to ten below temperatures. My normal maintenance is to toss up new material under the roost as needed to cover droppings. During the summer this all stays really dry, smell and mostly fly free, but after the winter long freeze, everything melts at once and there is suddenly a lot of wet ammonia build up. So far I have removed and replaced all the bedding immediately when this has happened, but wondering how others manage in cold winter climates?

I am using a thick layer of either hay or straw as bedding. Maybe I just need to add much more bedding more frequently? I have a trailer coop with a floor that would rot, really like the idea of composting in place, but not sure if I could do that in this sitation. Also, I am not sure how that can happen though during the coldest months, even with some water added?

(Also, if this has been already answered in the bowels of this extensive thread, please let me know!)

Going in another direction here, one thing I tried this winter which might be a good combination in general is the addition of charcoal to the bedding. A new/old idea in the organic grdening world is what they are calling biochar. Basically it is charcoal that is infused with plant nutrients, added by mixing it with compost or in this case chicken droppings. It holds nutrients, so is a long term fertilizer in the garden. I make mine by doing a fast burn of my seasonal prunings in a shallow pit, then water quenching the bed of coals before it has a chance to burn down to ash. As charcoal also picks up odors, it seems like a lot of the ammonia could be captured and used in this way in addition to what it is getting from the solids. I had one thaw this winter with no odor, but the second one generated too much for the capacity of the amount of charcoal I had, so might not be a real solution for me and the amount of ammonia that is generated from a winter's worth of frozen poo. Really looking forward to using it on the garden though.

 

[Beekissed]

Hi All,

I have been doing what I think is deep litter for two seasons, but am experiencing a hang up with ammonia buildup during the winter and spring thaws. Also, I am not sure if I should be aiming for a dry, dessicating situation or a moist composting one. I have cold winters here, with the last two having an extended period of hard freezing, with nights in the twenties to ten below temperatures. My normal maintenance is to toss up new material under the roost as needed to cover droppings. During the summer this all stays really dry, smell and mostly fly free, but after the winter long freeze, everything melts at once and there is suddenly a lot of wet ammonia build up. So far I have removed and replaced all the bedding immediately when this has happened, but wondering how others manage in cold winter climates?

I am using a thick layer of either hay or straw as bedding. Maybe I just need to add much more bedding more frequently? I have a trailer coop with a floor that would rot, really like the idea of composting in place, but not sure if I could do that in this sitation. Also, I am not sure how that can happen though during the coldest months, even with some water added?

(Also, if this has been already answered in the bowels of this extensive thread, please let me know!)

Going in another direction here, one thing I tried this winter which might be a good combination in general is the addition of charcoal to the bedding. A new/old idea in the organic grdening world is what they are calling biochar. Basically it is charcoal that is infused with plant nutrients, added by mixing it with compost or in this case chicken droppings. It holds nutrients, so is a long term fertilizer in the garden. I make mine by doing a fast burn of my seasonal prunings in a shallow pit, then water quenching the bed of coals before it has a chance to burn down to ash. As charcoal also picks up odors, it seems like a lot of the ammonia could be captured and used in this way in addition to what it is getting from the solids. I had one thaw this winter with no odor, but the second one generated too much for the capacity of the amount of charcoal I had, so might not be a real solution for me and the amount of ammonia that is generated from a winter's worth of frozen poo. Really looking forward to using it on the garden though.

The hay and straw may not allow enough air into your composting center, as they are pretty much all the same particle size and tend to mat down when moist. Maybe you could try the addition of a variety of particles and materials to facilitate breakdown? When I got away from just using pine shavings all the time, that was the last I ever smelled of ammonia...no matter how dry, how moist, etc. my litter gets now, I never smell any ammonia smells in the coop. I use mostly leaves but allow fine twigs, woody stems and vines, small amounts of hay and straw, wood chips, bark, pine needles and cones, garden and kitchen waste, etc.

Even in the coldest weather, that compost pile is still composting...just a little slower. For the answer to shooting for dry or moist, the answer is both. Moist in the middle and bottom of the center of the compost under your roosts, dry on top. Before next season, I'd line your trailer with plastic or other kind of waterproofing, as the moisture is needed for a composting DL.

I don't ever move DL out of the coop until it's completely composted into a fine, almost powder like consistency or like moist humus.

So...I'd say different materials and particle sizes, keep putting the dry on top of the manure like you've been doing, add moisture there if it's not composting down as it should, and keep the top of it capped off with dry materials each day. Add plenty of ventilation at the floor level and also up top of the roosts to move out any ammonia gassing there and you should start to see and smell a difference.

 

[annagoodspeed]

Sounds like a plan once the snow melts. If the composting can continue into the cold weather, then that would keep this from happening, which is basically two months worth of droppings melting and saturating the bedding all at once rather than a gradual incorporation. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[Bobby Basham]

Ya know, I've read this thread from day one, and am truly inspired by all the input. Beekissed and others, you are truly awesome in how you've educated us on this very important issue, and you can't put a price on all the knowledge contributed here.

Off, topic, but I wanted to let you all know that I retired last Friday, leaving a well-paid job that I absolutely hated for the last five years, and can now finally get on with my chicken and other household projects. My mental and physical health were deteriorating, and I just couldn't keep going down that path possibly leading to self-destruction. Daily frustration, anger and weight loss was taking a toll on me.

Please keep posting and sharing all your knowledge and keep me in your prayers. This is an uncomfortable transition for me until I learn to adjust. I hadn't planned on leaving this early, but that job finally tripped my trigger and I had to do something about it, hoping I won't regret it.

I'm gonna finish all my projects, completing the run and coop, build that expanded deck beside my patio, any maybe find a piano teacher and go back to playing my Classical music again. I already play organ at several churches for the last 50 years, but I miss my Classical. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

 

[Jennrz]

Hi all. Ive been using dlm for the last two years. Love it. However we have just had one of the wettest winters on record (and its not done yet).

Our coop is set up with an enclosure (which is dry) and a "run" that has a roof and three screened sides. The problem is in the run area. I currently have 6-8 inches of soggy mostly straw mess. I've turned it a few times when we had a couple of dry days and I let the girls range when the weather allows and I can keep an eye out for hawks. However as soon s it starts to get better we get more rain/snow and its back to being a mess.

My question is this....should I shovel it out (dirt floor) and put down new and try to keep up with the moisture going forward OR add a ton of new material to try and attain a dryer consistency?

Thoughts and advice appreciated!