Deep Litter system and dropping pits

[LoneCowboy]

I have dropping pits under my roosts, to keep the chickens from digging in their poo. I've been thinking about going with the deep litter system, if I do that, do I need to remove those dropping pits?

It seems like the right way to go since it helps warm the hen house in the winter too.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Why would you need to remove them? You can still do deep litter in and out of the pit. You'd just need to stir up the pit every now and again to mix things in since it doesn't get the normal traffic.

 

[jessied1227]

I do deep litter, and the pits are under the roosts. I just throw some Sweet PDZ over the pits and a couple handfuls of shavings to keep them from getting too icky or too full of flies.

I muck them out about every two weeks, and compost the poo.

Jess

 

[sunnychooks]

I use deep litter and it works great with no smell. I have my dropping pit under the roosts and surrounded by a wire enclosure. The chips that are in the rest of the coop stay fairly clean and when I clean out the dropping pit (roosts and wire under the roosts are removable) I use the litter on the floor of the coop to replace the litter in the dropping pit. Then I put fresh litter on the coop floor.

 

[Buckguy20]

Quote:
I think I know what you mean by dropping pits but could you post a pic or expalin exactly how yours is set up?
Thanks Monty

 

[horsewishr]

I use a basket-style pitchfork, lined with hardware cloth. I sift the bedding under the roost every morning, and get rid of a significant amount of poo. Then I just stir everything else up.

edited to add: I think I may be mis-understanding your question, but you could certainly leave the dropping pit intact, sift out some of the poo, and keep the rest of the coop covered in deep bedding.

 

[schmism]

Brian...

welcome to BYC!

hows the TC?

did you find BYC from a link i posted over on TBN?

 

[LoneCowboy]

I think i actually found it from arfcom
either that or TBN

the new TC is good.