Deep litter method

[quiltnchik]

Quote:
Because chicken poop will just dry up and compost, there's no real sense in "wasting" bedding by cleaning the coop out every week or so. The DLM works great by allowing you to keep your coop fresh (by adding DE and a bit of new bedding) without a lot of waste. If done correctly, you'll only need to totally clean your coop once or twice a year and you will never notice an ammonia smell when you open the coop, just a fresh bedding smell

 

[Portalguy]

Quote:
We tried some of those; they're not cheap! In our area they are trendy; and of course they need to be trucked in from far far away (heaven forbid actually using a local source, the pellet stove folks have a co-op where they have to take off of work to meet the truck coming up from Georgia).

Fortunately the chook are mostly outside now. My budget has a chance to recover

Cheers,
Rob

 

[sheeshshe]

OK, question....

so if you have a wood floor then the litter and poop will compost? if you have a linoleum floor then it will not compost?! is this what I've read and gathered through all 12 pages? LOL! or is a dirt floor the only one that will compost?

what if I added water to it on a linoleum floor? would it then start composting?

 

[SimplyForties]

It will certainly compost, just not as quickly!

 

[Portalguy]

I think the point that folks with linoleum floors are making, is that it makes cleanup easier, and it's cheep & easy to install.

But ugly. The wonder of it all is how linoleum winds up in kitchens.

 

[riqui1]

As I have been reading over the past 12 pages, trying to absorb as much as I can as we design and build our coop, I have noticed that a few people have said that they added some of the ashes from their wood stove to their coop floor. I am assuming that this is the help keep things dry? Would ashes from a coal stove be toxic to chickens?

Regardless, we will definitely be using the DLM in our coop. As it is a pre-existing shed that is being converted, I am trying to decide if I just want to tear the old floor out (it needs to be covered or replaced now anyhow) and just go with dirt or if I want to redo the floor and cover with linoleum. Our biggest concern with going with a dirt floor is that the shed will have to be dropped and then the frame/walls will rust, as it sits on the ground...unless we can find a good way to block the bottoms to prevent draft. Regardless of which was we go, we will be burying fencing along the outside to prevent any burrowing predators....

 

[glitch]

I'm definately going to give this method a try, but I was wondering if dead/dry leaf litter or shredded paper could be/has been used successfully.

 

[Portalguy]

Removed off-topic information. ​

 

[Spud395]

Ok 1st post and I'm braking the rules allready
I'll introduce myself in a minute, just spent the last hour reading 12 pages so here goes.

Real interested in trying this method.
It's a concrete floor and when it rains, my floor gets wet.
Will I have to solve this before I try this out

 

[BigPeep]

I would think you could use the existing floor but you are going to have to keep checking it for accumulated dampness at the bottom. You might try drilling holes at intervals to let the moisture out.

I am planning to build a winter coop very soon and am considering using some type of movable trays that can be pulled out from underneath and emptied without having to go inside and shovel everything out. Right now I have a run with wood chips and it is working quite well. I will just keep adding new layers until it is 8 inches and then shovel it out and put the contents in a compost pile. I am using the same approach with my chicks which are now six weeks old. They have about 4 inches of wood shavings and it is nice and dry.

I will build the compost pile inside of my plastic hoop house where I will be growing greens for winter. It should provide a bit a of additional heat and can then be used for mulch over the beds in Spring. I actually got the chickens to help with the gardening. They love the weeds!