Deep litter? What is best?

[Nutterbutterdiablo]

Hi, I am looking for something to cover my dirt run, covered only with fish netting but need to put deep litter on damp dirt ground. Live in rainy Pacific coastal town . Everything is expensive up here (Alaska) so looking for more inexpensive stuff. Can I use the pooed upon cleanings from the coop or no? And will the stronger smell of wet "litter" attract my neighborhood brown bears? Don't know what I'm doing?? Please help??

 

[cavemanrich]

Can you get anything for free, like grass clippings, Pine needles from wooded areas, or leaves, (any condition,dried or other)??? I know things are expensive in your area, including straw and hay.
Your question, about the bear smelling the chicken droppings if raked outside.... I know that bears have superior sense of small. They already smell those chicken gumdrops before you raked them outside. I don't think raking them into run will make much difference. Do you have electric fencing protection for you property perimeter???
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[3KillerBs]

Tree services frequently offer wood chips for free if you have space to store a full truckload. However you need to age the chips before using because fresh, wet chips are subject to mold blooms.

Any kind of dry, unsprayed yard waste can be used in a deep litter system.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Get whatever free plant materials you can. Wood chips make an ideal base material and can sometimes be obtained free (depending on your area) or for a small delivery free - just need a place to store them. Anything dried like leaves or grass can be stored if kept completely dry, so if you have a shed or greenhouse that stays dry, you can hang on to extra materials from one season to use year round.

 

[Nutterbutterdiablo]

Nothing will stay dry once put down in the run except for in June and July. Can't afford to roof it this year, but do have it covered with fishing nets and one small spot is covered. Was hoping for something that could be damp or wet.

 

[Nutterbutterdiablo]

Get whatever free plant materials you can. Wood chips make an ideal base material and can sometimes be obtained free (depending on your area) or for a small delivery free - just need a place to store them. Anything dried like leaves or grass can be stored if kept completely dry, so if you have a shed or greenhouse that stays dry, you can hang on to extra materials from one season to use year round.

 

[Nutterbutterdiablo]

Nothing dry here on the coast.

 

[Nutterbutterdiablo]

Can you get anything for free, like grass clippings, Pine needles from wooded areas, or leaves, (any condition,dried or other)??? I know things are expensive in your area, including straw and hay.
Your question, about the bear smelling the chicken droppings if raked outside.... I know that bears have superior sense of small. They already smell those chicken gumdrops before you raked them outside. I don't think raking them into run will make much difference. Do you have electric fencing protection for you property perimeter???
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[Nutterbutterdiablo]

We are buying bear proof(we have all brown bears here, so I hope it's bear proof!) electric chicken wire just now. They have been very troublesome this summer with a sow and her 2 2year old cubs being quite agressive. We do cut our lawn and only have hemlock and spruce trees so plenty of clippings and needles but always wet in a day.

 

[NatJ]

I would use whatever materials are free (as others have suggested), put them in the run, and see how it works. I would not bother trying to dry or store the materials elsewhere.

(I tend to just try the easy way and see if it works, before trying anything more complicated.)