Deep Litter or clean out all the time?

[ukcatherine]

We are new to the chicken keeping world, our five Rhode Island Reds and plymouth rocks and are only a 9 days old, and we are loving it! I have been reading a lot and looking at coop designs, some of which are awesome. I would like to do the deep litter method but I would also like to do a coop that is raised up above the ground and hang their food from under the coop. Is it possible to do both? Does doing the deep litter method mean that the coop needs to be touching the earth? We live in Ridge, New York, and we will be making a run for days that we can't let them out, but most of the time they will have the run of our two acres as well as the surrounding woods. How big should the coop be? I was thinking 3' by 2' but that seems small. Also I would like the coop to have an open door policy - ie I don't want to have to open for them in the mornings - they can be in the run, until my husband wakes up later (he works nights) and lets them roam free. Is it possible to do that in this climate - it gets pretty cold here in the winter.
Sorry there are so many questions, but I don't want to start buidling until I have a clear idea - and the chicks need a place very soon- they like my dinning room, but one is already starting to roost on the chair rung!! I will really miss them not being in the house though, eventually.
Thank you so much for all the advice, I am hopefully going to get. This website is a life saver.

 

[Nemo]

Hello, congratulations, and

.

No, 3x2 isn't big enough. The standard guideline is four square feet of floor per bird in the coop. That's s'posed to be open space, too, not taken up by feeders and nest boxes and whatnot. So, the bare minimum is 5x4 for five birds, plus room for feeders and nest boxes and whatnot. And, if it does get really cold there, you should even go bigger, so that on the days that are too cold to let them out, they don't get crabby and start picking on each other.

I don't think a raised coop would be at odds with the deep litter method. My thought would be if it's raised, then it should be made easily cleanable from the outside, so sweeping it out once a week shouldn't be a problem. We do a modified deep litter... We have "poop pits" (~18 inches tall) under the roosts. We add sawdust to the pits and fresh wood shavings to the floor of the rest of the coop once-a-week-ish. The pits get cleaned out occasionally. (Which will be this weekend, since I'm re-fabbing one.)

Unless you have a truly critter-proof run, then I would suggest locking them in at night. You can put a board on a string that you can pull from outside the run to make it easier.

 

[Anny]

Welcome!

As a general rule of thumb you want at least 4 square feet per bird inside of the coop, and at least 10 space feet per bird out side in the run.

More room is always better. And more space per chicken means less cleaning for you!

 

[Scott]

I personally recommend the deep litter method. When I first built my chicken house I considered both options as well. I went with deep litter method well. As long as the coop is kept dry and well ventilated, it works very well. I only have to clean out my chicken house once or twice a year. Granted, I have a relatively small flock, and they spend most of their time outside. Picture of my chicken house here , if you're interested.

 

[ukcatherine]

Quote:
Great pictures, thank you. Is your coop directly on the ground, or can the deep litter method be done over any surface so long as there is enough room, height wise?

 

[Scott]

Yes, it is directly on bare ground.

 

[patandchickens]

What they all said about coop size. And if you give them *more* than 4 sq ft per chicken (indoors) you will not regret it, and they will be happier too.

As far as litter management, it's whatever you're happiest with. There is a whole continuum (several continuums in fact

) of ways of dealing with poo and bedding, and none is really strongly better overall than any other. I'd suggest just experimenting and seeing what you settle down with, it's as much a matter of personality as anything.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

Inside my coop I hardly ever change out the litter. But outside in the run where it can get wet I change it often as it needs. After it rains usually.

 

[Mikeeeeeeeeee]

Deep litter, and change it twice a year.
It goes into the garden and gets tilled in.