Deep Litter: Why 12 inches?

[OlympicChick]

Is it because that is the amount that is needed in order to produce heat and break down the nitrogen? I'm curious if there were any studies done on this or if its just years of observation and experience. Can anything less than 12 inches still be effective?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I never do that deep. I believe if you want a truly hot composting litter than deeper is better. All organic matter gets broken down no matter the depth, it just depends on if you want hot or cold. I prefer cold composting.

 

[BPlayer]

Mine runs about 8 inches. The girls scratch around and bury the poop regularly. This way the under wood chips heat up over time and i just keep layering til the weather breaks. I am careful to watch for ammonia smells though things stay nice and toasty.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mine's maybe 4-6" when freshly laid down. As long as it's draining decently and there's no smell issue, I figure that's good enough. I'm not trying to optimize for composting.

 

[flyin-lowe]

Ive never read that it has to be 12 inches. I start mine at 2 inches or so. Then every few weeks I throw in bag of lawn clippings, or leaves, or some straw. They scratch through the new stuff and churn up the old. I keep doing this for approximately 6 months and then shovel it all out onto my garden. By the end of the 6 months it is around 12 inches deep.....

 

[OlympicChick]

Thank you all for your replies. I feel better now with starting my DL system. I think maybe I was getting the depth confused with what they say about deep bedding depth.

I was stressing trying to figure out how I was going to get enough brown and green stuff to make 12"!!