Deep litter question!

[U_Stormcrow]

DLM. Why buy? CT has some lovely hardwoods.

 

[Sally PB]

I have pine shavings in my coop, roughly 4" deep. I also use a poop board, and most of the poop ends up on it. A minute to scoop and dump in lidded bucket, then onto the compost pile. The poop on the floor is totally dry. I will be cleaning all the shavings out later this summer, probably, and replacing with new. Mostly because I want to inspect the floor and walls of the coop.

My coop does not smell, unless someone has just dropped a cecal poop. The poop bucket smells when I take off the lid, but that's it.

The run started as lawn. It was down to dirt in a week or so. I dump lots of dry oak leaves in there in the fall, and they get scratched down to bits in a couple weeks. This time of year, I bring the chickens buckets of weeds from the garden. Those are unrecognizable in a day or two.

I want to rake/shovel 2-3" of dirt/leaf bits/weeds out of the run and add it to my garden. The old pine shavings from the coop will go into the run. Anything new in the run is scary to the chickens for a few minutes, then exciting to scratch through.

 

[TeresaInTexas]

Is there something else you recommend for bedding inside the coop? At least during warmer months?

I use Hemp for my hen house and it’s works great for me. I live in the San Antonio, TX area and its been over 100 degrees for over a week and the hemp bedding is not generating heat at all.