for those that use deep litter method...please advise me

[CamsCluckinChicks]

I use deep litter method. I've had an epic failure using it & now do so successfully.

Epic failure - Make sure, double sure, you can turn what's already there before adding fresh bedding!! I wasn't able to turn it because in haste (ran out of time before winter hit!!) we had installed a roost that was in my way...we didn't make it removable (duh) & I honestly couldn't get under it with anything. What a mess come spring!!

Success - Now all my coops have removable and/or out of the way roosts so I can get to everything without trouble. I turn the old bedding with a hay fork, then add new. I sprinkle some of their food around on top of the new bedding & the chickens do the rest. I'm not using poop boards. I allow their poop to land on top of the bedding & when I turn it, the poop is mixed in with it. When I clean them out yearly (or twice yearly depending), it's already half compost & I use it directly in my garden beds. The rest goes to a compost pile & used as needed. Never had any trouble using it all!!

I highly recommend the deep litter method!! It isn't much less work, but you end up with usable compost - fertilizer inside!

 

[CamsCluckinChicks]

Forgot to mention... I use alfalfa hay for bedding. It's softer than straw & the chickens love to pick through it & eat the alfalfa, etc. Plus I love the smell of it! LoL!!

In my brooder, I use pine shavings. I have a Brinsea 50-chick brooder & I made the brooder house myself out of wood & hardware cloth. I customized the size of it to fit under some of my laundry cabinets on top of the counter. It's really perfect for the space, but miss my laundry counter space! LoL!! In the warmer months, I can use it in our garage, but during the winter...

 

[vanyen5400]

I have a concrete floor in the coop. Can this Deep litter method be used with concrete?
Can I use leaves in the concrete floor coop?

I have thought about putting all our leaves from raking this fall into a chicken run - one of 3 separated runs. I try &try to get grass to grow but to no avail. So, for the winter my girls will have leaves to scratch in and next spring I would have 1 run in leaves and seed the other runs. Thoughts?

 

[R_Chickens]

We've been raising our first flock of 20 chickens (17 hens, 3 roosters) since March/April of this year. Our girls are happy with the DLM we use (getting 18 eggs/day about 29 days a month, then one less the other days).

Our coop is 8'x12' with plywood TNG flooring. I found a vinyl remnant at our local Ollie's store for about $50 for a heavy piece 10'x16' IIRC. I centered it in the coop, let it run up the sides and stapled it down with the air stapler.

The floor was a little slippery at first when we started with a couple of Tractor Supply's blocks of "economy" shavings, but as it got packed down, we always kept up with covering any spots where the vinyl showed through.

I have a full sized door on the coop with a piece of 2"x6" at the bottom inside of the door. The base of the door overlaps about 2" or so. Our coop is about 2' off the ground on one side and 3' on the other (sloped land).

When we started to notice a lot of poop or a little smell, I spread DE (Agway has it cheap, even though it is mixed with clay- bentonite- so it is dark brown) on the floor and the chickens go nuts scratching and dust bathing and such! Mixes it up well. Give them about a half hour or so, then add more bedding. I use a coffee can of DE to spread evenly and a bit heavier in their favorite dust bathing spot.

We have a rubbermaid tub about 3' long x 18" wide and 18" high or so that I cut a square out of one end and set it in the corner. Almost all the eggs are laid in that single place. We always keep clean and fresh bedding in there- no poop in the laying box

These chickens don't roost at night. I put in one quick roost, and they occasionally get on it during the day, but at night they all cluster together to the left of the door under the window. We keep this area also with the most shavings and clean.

For watering, we use a 5 gal bucket with 3 chicken nipples. REALLY, REALLY keeps down the mess and a dry floor and no algae or poop or bedding in the water!

So far our DLM has been VERY good. A number of fellow chicken folks come by and ask what we use as they cannot believe there is no smell! Sure, you get some "animal" smells like bedding and such, but NO ammonia or poop smell, unless it is time to add more DE and bedding.

We raise all organic and fertilized eggs here. The eggs are mostly clean with the occasional piece of shaving stuck to the egg (bloom), which wipes off easily with a damp paper towel. No scrubbing, leaves most of the bloom on.

We got most of our best and most accurate info from here at BYC. Folks are knowledgeable and helpful. What we have done was mostly thanks to these good folks here. There are other ways to do things, but thought I'd share what has been working for us so far.

Now to "winterize" the coop...

Hope this helps a bit.

- JC

 

[triplepurpose]

I'd skip the bleach and insect dust if I were you. You want the natural, beneficial microbes that build up in deep litter. That's a big part, I understand, of what makes deep litter work properly, control smells, and help to control coccidiosis, etc. Also, I've heard it recommended by some that you never actually remove ALL of the litter for these reasons. In other words, it's not a "sterile" process--although it is very clean and healthy, even more so than other methods. I also personally wouldn't want the poisons from the insect dust in my garden (which is where the litter ends up eventually, after being composted after I clean it out), but of course that's your call. The chickens can eat any insects in the litter (=free, healthy protein) and if mites are a problem spreading a few scoops of diatomaceous earth about the coop will keep them, and other insects, in check. You can also dust the chickens themselves with it by hand if it's really bad, or provide a basin of DE and let them dust themselves. Despite the angry assertions I've heard from some people that DE is "useless," I've found that it works quite well in conjunction with a healthy DLM system for me to manage mites and lice, and has also helped my neighbor, who had a really bad mite problem not long ago.

The thing that I've learned about deep litter in practice is that you really want it to be DEEP, and it takes a lot more litter than you think to reach that depth. You can start with a couple inches if you must, but quickly work up to AT LEAST six inches or more. I use straw (and occasionally a little sawdust, yard or garden waste, etc), a lot of people use shavings, but you can use leaf litter or anything else too. Once it gets deep, you don't have to add new litter very much. Stir or mix it only as needed, and encourage the chickens to do it themselves as much as possible by throwing a handful of scratch grains or pellets throughout the area now and then. But you still have to go in with a fork once and a while to stir it yourself, I find, especially beneath the roosts.

Good luck! It's a fabulous system!

 

[ejb3810]

I would caution anyone that is using or thinking about using a deep litter system. In general terms, one of the side effects of this is increased dust from the shavings, litter and droppings. Over time as a person is exposed to this it is possible to develop a medical condition that seriously impacts lung function. In you , not your birds. When I first started with birds I cleaned the floor in my coop on a daily basis and the result was no dust. As I had the birds over time, it became evident that most only cleaned their coops on a qtrly, semi-annual or annual basis and just added additional litter to keep things somewhat dry. So I switched to that method. After several years of that I became very ill. It took over a month with many trips to the Dr. and hospital for various tests before it was properly diagnosed as " avian pulmonary disease ". As the Dr. later said to me, you don;t realize it but you could not complete a sentence without stopping to catch your breath. I have always been very physically active, but with this after ten steps I was completely winded. Long story short. I was told to dispose of my birds. I did not. I now clean the coops daily and always wear a mask when in them.

 

[R_Chickens]

Quote:
Sorry for your troubles. Some of us have medical conditions that prevent us from doing certain things. Glad you found a way to keep your chickens!

OTOH, the DLM needs *some* moisture. I would think if it is so dry it makes lots of dust, the DLM isn't going to work as well, either.

If you or anyone has a respiratory problem, it's not a bad idea to avoid all types of dust and use a mask when you expect to be exposed to dust.

But I think that is more of a general recommendation, not particular to the DLM. You'd be amazed how much dust a chicken, a cat, a dog, or even a human makes.

- JC

 

[Maisie1]

I have been using the deep litter method for several months now and it seems to be working, since the coop doesn't stink at all. Granted, I only have 4 hens and a tiny coop/run, and my girls spend most of their day running around my fenced-in yard. On a daily basis, I've just been removing the visible poop on the top layer of bedding (pine shavings), mixing the bedding around a bit and then sprinkling a couple handfuls of fresh shavings on to top it off. In summer I'd sprinkle a little DE in there as well, which helps dry up poop and fly larvae. No smell! So far, so good...We'll see how it goes over the winter.

I would highly recommend finding some DE, at least for the warmer months. You can actually get in on Amazon.com (but shipping is exorbitant), but I found a place about 20 miles away from me that sells the Perma-Guard brand of DE in 50# bags for about $20. A friend who buys it to de-worm his herd of bison gave me some, and it's great.

Good luck!

 

[ethelsmom]

Thanks for this post...I needed to hear it. I have a question to add though...can you still do this method if the coop occasionally gets wet in some places? We have a leaky window that I can't do anything with because of cold weather and when it rains, it leaks in a puddle on the floor.

 

[ROCKIN R FARM]

Quote:
Carol,
That is not my coop and run that belongs to another poster. I need to get some loaded up on the computer for all od
F you to see my coops. I like them for the summer, now I am not sure how they will work out for the winter lol. I will see if I can get them posted tomorrow
Dean