fixing ammonia smell with deep litter method

[ChickenCanoe]

Oh, Bee-eee, my fine feathered friend, I have a DLM question. I was going to ask on the Porch but then I thought since so many people are interested in DLM it might be better to ask here and get an answer that could help more folks than just little old me.

I started our new coop using DLM, and on your wise advice also have the run going in DL. But the coop is so dusty! I mean, like a layer on everything, including the vent screens. I know that moisture and deep litter can result in a release of ammonia, even with good ventilation. But is it supposed to be so dusty in there? Do I want to use the mister on the garden wand and just give the litter a light spray, then add more shavings? I want to make the lasagna so I try to avoid stirring the litter deeply, just kinda raking over the surface about once week. Even the 2x4 cross framing pieces are coated with dust, and the windows and screens are too.

Conversely the litter in the run is saturated. We've had continual rain for 2 days and even the covering over the run isn't preventing everything from getting soaked. Too much water in the run, not enough in the coop. Sheesh! Maybe I should just lock the chickens in the garage since there's no room for a car in there anyway!

Am I doing something wrong t cause so much dust, or does a lot of dust mean that I'm doing a proper job of keeping things well layered and dry? I've had no odor problems (okay, that's a lie - I actually had a little bit in there but another layer of shavings took care of that immediately so I don't count it) but the dust is as bad as it was when the girls (and Charlie) were in the house! I'm not using anything else but the leaves, other green material, and shavings.

Everyone has different techniques, purposes and environmental conditions. IMO, there will be dust everywhere chickens are housed. Here in the Midwest, we are always humid and either extremely cold or extremely hot - some nice stuff in between. I work very hard to never get excess moisture into the coop. When the dust gets too bad, I muck out the coop, vacuum the cobwebs and put in fresh shavings.

I'm considering DLM and wondering, does deep litter cause wood floors to rot out? I just built my new coop with 3/4 plywood for the floor. I don't expect it to ever have problems if cleaned out regularly. Reading about DLM it sounds pretty convenient but with litter essentially sitting there composting with bugs and things that sounds like it could start to eat away at the floor.

If kept dry, it won't rot floors. If allowed to get wet, it will.

 

[tracker77]

I started DLM back in May when the chicks were still small pullets. My coop has a concrete floor. It's a 4x9 converted shed; 10 hens. I left a layer of newspaper from when they were chicks and layered pine shavings, about 2" initially. I was fussing over it adding pine shavings every 4-5 days, but found if I just sprinkled a little scratch around, the girls would turn it nicely. I just emptied the coop to the floor and added 3".

Observations, thoughts & questions.
• When mucking it out, I did notice a pretty strong ammonia smell. I've detected a light ammonia smell from time to time and wondered if that was contributing to some thin shell/watery egg whites of some of my eggs.
• I had a couple of spots where water had dripped in from tiny roof leaks. It was composted better in these spots. Thinking of lightly spraying/misting with a pump up garden sprayer once a week to see if that helps some with the dust problem.
• Most of what I shoveled out was about halfway composted, but very dry & dusty. I put it in my compost bin for anther 1-2 months of "work".
• I've never understood the idea of "disinfecting" a coop after cleanout. Why make it sterile for one day of the year? I could see doing that with some flock infection, but otherwise, I'm just shoveling out the big hunks and calling it good.

 

[RonP]

I also have dust everywhere inside the coop.

I use an electric leaf blower every once in a while to un dust it everywhere

.

Takes 5 minutes...and makes me happy.

 

[gregg3]

New chicken owner with a 5x8 coop housing 7 almost laying hens and 1 rooster. I've been trying the deep litter method and all seems to be well - no noticeable smell when I'm around the coop...EXCEPT when I turn the litter. I use a garden rake turned upside down to nearly scrape the floor and after a good turning the ammonia smell is pretty intense. I leave the access doors (roughly a 4 ft high by 8 ft wide side of the coop) open all day while the chickens free range and only turn the litter in the morning after I let them out for the day so the smell can settle before they return but I'm just wondering if I need to start over next spring and start a regular cleaning regimen for the duration of the fall/winter?

 

[Beekissed]

New chicken owner with a 5x8 coop housing 7 almost laying hens and 1 rooster. I've been trying the deep litter method and all seems to be well - no noticeable smell when I'm around the coop...EXCEPT when I turn the litter. I use a garden rake turned upside down to nearly scrape the floor and after a good turning the ammonia smell is pretty intense. I leave the access doors (roughly a 4 ft high by 8 ft wide side of the coop) open all day while the chickens free range and only turn the litter in the morning after I let them out for the day so the smell can settle before they return but I'm just wondering if I need to start over next spring and start a regular cleaning regimen for the duration of the fall/winter?

Don't turn it. Just lightly flip the top layer of litter over where the poop is most concentrated, as in under the roosts, or just lift a little of the top litter and throw it over these areas. You need that moisture in that bottom layer to stay moist and the smell you are smelling is the odor of materials breaking down....leave it alone and you'll have better results.

 

[Buckhowdy]

Don't turn it. Just lightly flip the top layer of litter over where the poop is most concentrated, as in under the roosts, or just lift a little of the top litter and throw it over these areas. You need that moisture in that bottom layer to stay moist and the smell you are smelling is the odor of materials breaking down....leave it alone and you'll have better results.

I wish that I'd read this first before I thoroughly and enthusiastically turned over every square inch of deep litter in my coop today. The coop is 8 x 12 and the litter is about 10" deep. I thought turning it over would be good for composting. That was in the morning. By that evening the smell of ammonia was sooo strong that I had to open up all of the ventilation. That wasn't enough. I still need more ventilation. So when you say "just lightly flip the top layer" and "...leave it alone" you really mean it. Everything was working fine until I tried to improve it. Kind of glad I won't be doing that again - It was a lot of work.

 

[RonP]

I wish that I'd read this first before I thoroughly and enthusiastically turned over every square inch of deep litter in my coop today. The coop is 8 x 12 and the litter is about 10" deep. I thought turning it over would be good for composting. That was in the morning. By that evening the smell of ammonia was sooo strong that I had to open up all of the ventilation. That wasn't enough. I still need more ventilation. So when you say "just lightly flip the top layer" and "...leave it alone" you really mean it. Everything was working fine until I tried to improve it. Kind of glad I won't be doing that again - It was a lot of work.

Funny reminder of the first time I turned mine during the cold season...

I was so sure I had issues, I completely changed the litter in the middle of the season...

 

[Buckhowdy]

Should I wait out the heavy ammonia smell and just add more pine shavings for now?

 

[Beekissed]

You can add more pine shavings or put down a light layer of sweet lime, both will do the trick. I'd suggest working in different size particles and varieties of litter material as well, as you will get a better, sweeter break down. Leaves, twigs, mulch, small handfuls of straw or hay for texture, etc. When you work with different size and density of particles, you get natural airflow in the litter and things stay less compact, easier to shift and flip, and it just works better all around. Shavings take a long, long, long time to decompose.

 

[EastonEssential]

This is my first winter with chickens. After reading this, I think I've been doing it all wrong and I need to see if I can rectify this! It's all a learning process!

I have an 8 x 10 coop with 10 hens and 1 rooster. I wanted to try the DLM but there are so many conflicting stories out there. We implemented it in November with just a 3" layer on the bottom, planning to add to it weekly. By late December, things were quite cold and snowy here in eastern Michigan and the hens would rarely go outside. The DL was getting up to about 6" thick and quite saturated with poop and I was trying to stir it down deeper. I also made the HUGE mistake of not opening the hatch to let the chickens out thinking it would be too cold for them. Duuuuumb! It started getting very stinky in there so I was stirring it deep down daily and twice, I added about 2 cups of lime over the top....to no avail. Last week hubby added a layer of shavings but within a few days, I stirred it down. As of yesterday, I put a thick layer of old pine needles down outside in the run and all 11 of them were joyfully enjoying the outdoors most of the day! Hubby and I went into the coop and did another deep, deep turning and dug out a couple of frozen spots where the water had spilled and I was afraid it was causing too much moisture. As I am reading, I see the deep turning was a big no-no. When I went out to close the coop last night, the ammonia smell was stronger. So, I see my issue is 1) not enough ventilation (which my friend made me aware of yesterday hence why I was opening everything up) and 2) I'm stirring it when I shouldn't be. It is not so wet that it's mushy. It looked quite beautiful when we turned it all! It's breaking down nicely!

Can I rectify this???

My plan today and moving forward is to 1) leave our 8 x 10" vent fan open from now on to allow ventilation (and have hubby install better vents for future winters) and open the hatch daily to get them outside as much as possible and also open the window, 2) Add a good layer of lime, and 3) Add a good 2-3 inch layer of pine shavings and just do the flip method of the top layer from here on out.

How often should I add the shavings and the lime? Any other advice would be wonderful!