help with deep litter method (pics too)

[Ol Grey Mare]

My plan today was to go get some pine shavings so maybe I'll grab a few bags of wood chips too and mix that in.

I wish I had a bag for my mower. I looked online and it's like $400 to add a bag to a riding mower! I wish there was a way I could get the grass clippings in there

A little planning in how you mow will help to gather the clippings in a more easily gathered state -- if you mow so that you are blowing all the clippings either in one direction or into the center of an area from both directions you will have a more concentrated area to rake/gather. This is what I do on the front side of the property so I can easily rake it up and put it in the cart to take out to the run. When mowing the back yard, I work to blow the clippings out into the pasture by starting at the farthest point away and mowing parallel to the fence line moving closer to it with each pass - it's a bit of a pain because it does take longer since I am only actively cutting grass on the pass that would blow the grass TO the fence not away, but it works. Or, if I'm really lucky, I borrow the neighbor's lawn sweep and it's that much easier, lol.

 

[biteme2134]

My county has a reclamation/recycling center. All I have to do is back my pick up next to the pile of wood chips and start shoveling. Free run litter! I've done it three times this spring, which means I've got six inches of wood chips above the impervious red clay soil. The water drains right through, and the chicken feet stay dry. Then I go out to the woods next to the house, and get some of that forest-floor material like you showed. The Chickens love it: they scratch through it for bugs, etc. And while searching for all those bugs and worms, they keep it turned over. I really should put a tarp over the run roof, which is just welded wire (and I'll have to when winter comes), but even though I've got standing water outside the run all over the place, the run itself is high and dry. 

I couldn't find any free wood chips around. Buying enough to cover the bottom doesn't sound fun. I may be stuck with the pine shavings on the bottom...

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I couldn't find any free wood chips around. Buying enough to cover the bottom doesn't sound fun. I may be stuck with the pine shavings on the bottom...

Try contacting local tree service companies - often as they do various jobs they will sell/give-away loads of what comes of them doing tree work

 

[biteme2134]

Ok I finished! I grated the ground some, put some holes on the outside edges of the wood so water can drain, and even grated the area outside around the coop.

Then I covered with at least 4 inches of pine shavings and topped that with all the forest material.










I left the covered part of the run bare - it never really gets wet and my thought would be that they can go over there to get out of the forest if need be (but they'll probably throw all the stuff over there eventually tho...

 

[wlantry]

Looks like chicken heaven now!

 

[yellowchicks]

Looks really good! What a difference!

 

[16 paws]

Good job

 

[biteme2134]

Thanks! Day one was great! Chickens seem to love it. They did throw litter into the bare area an in my dust bath box so I'll have a few modifications to make. And they even though some through my 1/2 inch wire which I was warned about above. Next week it's supposed to rain again from Tuesday through Sunday so that'll be the test!

 

[KLBCOS]

Thanks for all the input on this thread. I have been dealing with a lot of mud in the run as Colorado Springs had the wettest May on record. Our challenge is the water table has raised significantly. Water has no where to go. We're supposed to be semi-arid. So this in not normal. We have a slash yard not far from the house and I am hoping to get free wood chips from their to improve the run. Thanks again!

 

[biteme2134]

Glad it helped! We just had our first rain since I started the deep litter. It wasn't a ton of rain but it would have normally made the ground all mud. So far it's working!