Deep litter method

[seespotbitejane]

Thanks, that was very helpful.

 

[cjexotic]

ok I just found this post.. very interesting. I will be starting this method this weekend. Now I see someone asked ot see pictures at different stages and I would like to see that also.
Is it better to clean the coop in the spring or like now (which I just did last weekend) to prepare for winter?
Also my pens have dirt floors. I take them down to the hard ground and by evening when I get home they have dug up and made more loose ground. The coop floor should be in china by now. The dlm doe that also keep them from turning so much dirt? Those with dirt floors how long does it take before the dirt is all mixed in and then it does not look clean anymore?
My pens are about 8 x 10-12' how many bails of wood chips to I put in to start the dlm?

thanks

 

[gsim]

I am a first-timer. Have a linoleum floor in our 8 x 16 coop. We use crass clippings. I have straw put away for wintertime . Am adding ag lime to wintertime litter.

I use two 36" lengths of pvc guttering with end caps for feed and water troughs. they sit on shelves built so that they cannot be tipped and are 6 or 7 " above floor. I designed it so that you have to lift up about 1/2" and then slide back towards you to remove them. I put two roofing nails in wall studs at backs of troughs so that they cannot be tipped outwards. I put a piece of left over vinyl siding above the two troughs. I also put a 2x2 strip right above them to cause the siding to flare out to where only 2" of the trough is available to the birds. I put a 2x4 on it's edge in rear half of one trough that is the feeder. They cannot roost on either so they cannot poop in either. The water trough still gets some straw and an occasional feather in it, but no spillage of either food or water, ever. Best to keep feeder only 1/2 full to save on waste/spillage. I have to top off the water trough once a day, and clean it every 3 or 4 days. I really like the way my system works. If I can just get the nest boxes right, I will be all set.

 

[Spud395]

Hey I'd love to see a pic of your set up

 

[old fashioned]

We also use a deep litter. Hubby built the pen attached to our garden shed for one wall, is about 8'x10' enclosed with poultry wire with a large 5'x 2 1/2'x 3' wooden box (for nesting)with door opening attached to shed wall about 18" off the floor. Inside the nest box is about 6" of paper shreds and in the pen area I spread out one bale of hay on the ground, made for 8+" of base. found a large board about 2"x12"x8' long and put under the nest box to deter any ground burrowing pests. This sticks out far enough to put their feed and water buckets on and seperate from litter. These buckets are 5qt ice cream buckets. Once in a while I've fished out a stray straw or feather, but is usually clean. I empty and refill every few days and the feed is kept only about 1/2 full. This provides several days of feed and have had no waste yet with these buckets. I did use trough feeder and self waterer, but most feed was dumped and wasted and didn't see anyone trying to drink. Now they do.
At first when I did dlm, I did it backwards by putting in alot of litter and taking out the dirty parts. Then in a light bulb moment, I realized my error. So now, every few days I use a pitchfork to turn, fluff and toss the litter, depends on how bad it is. I check the nesting box (hinged roof) and clean out any dirties onto litter flooring. Adding new as needed to both box and pen. Paper shreds, shavings/bedding whatever I have or can find. I don't have a stink problem. But my chickens only stay in the pen during the night and are usually let out in the am and we close the door after they've gone to roost. Since this will be our first winter, we'll see how it works to also provide some heat.

 

[BigPeep]

I would not use straw or hay at all. They harbor mold (especially straw) and are messy. I use wood chips which I have delivered by local landscapers at $5/cubic yard (compared to $25 at garden centers). I try to get pine with the needles and it has a nice smell.

We are building our winter coop right now which has wire mesh directly on the ground and will be then covered with 4 inches of litter to start. This will be built up to 8 inches by Spring. It will have flaps in front that can be lifted so the mulch can be easily shoveled out where it will be spread around the large run and mixed in with the additional mulch there. When everything needs to be cleaned, the yard mulch will be shoveled into a nearby compost pile.

I use no straw anywhere. Even my goats are on the wood chips with hay being used for feeding. The extra does sit on the floor of their three sided shelter for insulation in the winter. After that it will go in the compost pile as well.

At $5 per cubic yard the wood chips compare favorably with straw bales, and are probably actually less. Of course , you can't grow it in your field, but I don't have enough land for that anyway so I would be buying it in any event.

 

[goosemama]

Commenting on the deep litter method - I use the same and its amazing how far one bale will go. I've found a bale smaller than what I was using but it must be packed in there because it goes twice as far. I clean my house out after the first snow and lay about 6 inches of clean shavings plus Diamatacious earth sprinkled over top. Then I shovel the dirty litter evenly over my flower beds. The snow insulates the plants in case there are any "hot" spots of manure in the littler. My flower beds have never been better.

Just started using DE so sprinkle that as I layer the new litter. My feeder and waterer are both put up on concrete blocks - chickens and ducks can reach them and any feed spilled the chickens clean up on the floor. Scattering scratch feed is a good idea too as it encourages the girls to dig and fluff it up. The only problem is the ducks make a mud mess around the waterer which I periodically shovel out onto the compost pile. We have a stash of old vinyl real estate signs (that's our business) and we laid them on the wooden chicken floor first so even the wet parts near the waterer are ok and come easily off the vinyl for removal. My henhouse is about 12xl8.

 

[fisharescary]

ok, so I've read through this entire thread, but there are a couple parts I'm not sure about:

When you stir the litter, how deep do you stir? is it just the top few inches, or are you stirring down through all the layers, ideally down to the floor?

And in what order do you add the DE? Before stirring, or after? Before the new layer of bedding, or after?

Oh, and I forgot to add, this is for ducks, if it makes any difference. (don't think it should though)

 

[ChickenToes]

Quote:
I stir the litter all the way down to the floor. I stir the DE right into the litter when I stir it around, so it doesn't matter when you add it. The only difference I've noticed between using the DLM for chickens and for ducks is that with ducks you must be sure to stir it everyday. Duck poop is so wet that it can soak through the shavings and get the floor wet.

 

[Anny]

I also stir all the way down to the floor, other wise the bedding will become back backed together it becomes hard to stir.