how often should i change my whole coop litter?

[cmom]

I use pine shavings. My roosts in my coop are over wire which allows the poop through. The pine shavings are on the floor in the rest of the coop. Monthly I add some shavings until I have approx 4/6in. I clean my coop once a year. I sprinkle FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth (DE) on the shavings weekly Once in awhile I throw some scratch on the shavings and let the chickens mix it up. They do a very good job. I have no problems with flies, stink and such. My pine shavings stay nice and dry easy to clean out. I put them in my compost pile. which every once in awhile I give a toss to keep it mixed up with the other stuff that goes in. sprinkle with water and let it cook. I move my coop and chicken yard about every 3 months approx, clean up the poop under the roost and it goes into the compost. I grow so much produce that I give most of it away, and the chicken get some too. My soil is low in acid so I think the pine shavings are good for my soil. I usually buy the pine shavings at my local feed store. They were out before, so I have bought some in the pet department at Wal-Mart.

 

[redhen]

thanks cmom...great advice!..i wish i could move my coop run around!!..that would be the best alternitive!..i have landscaping rock in my run...but i've been thinking about throwing some sand on top of that..for better drainage and for thier dust baths.....i was thinking about throwing my goat straw and my chicken shavings in my garden area this winter...to get richer soil for spring time...i'm not sure if thats a good idea though...through the whole winter exposed to the elements and all?..will it mold or something?..and be harmful to my plants next spring?...lol..now..were on a whole new subject...

..Wendy

 

[moenmitz]

I was skeptical at first, but we have been doing deep litter for about two months now on a concrete floor and it works great. I have 60+ 11 week old chickens in the pen at night only...pen is about 15' x 12' - about once a week (which is when I will start to notice a funk) I sprinkle some DE and rake it into the shavings- about every two weeks I throw down another bale of shavings. I sprinkle a bit of feed around the pen every night just to distract some of the birds so they don't all stampede the feeders at once, and that really does a good job at keeping the shavings stirred up. There is very little smell at all, shavings are really pretty dry and zero bugs so far that I have seen. We have had a hot, humid summer, so if it stays decent during this weather, I think it should be good about anytime. The chickens tend to kick quite a few of the shavings out of the pen as it is chain link, so whatever gets kicked out, gets swept out of the barn altogether, so it is sort of a gradual replacement of shavings.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
I use a tractor to move the coup

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If you don't have a dirt floor you can still use the deep litter method. The difference is that it will be drier, the litter won't have access to the large number of organisms in the soil and won't fully compost. After you clean out the coop, the litter will need to finish composting in a pile or bin, before being spread in the garden.

 

[chicksinthemachine]

Can you use straw also or only pine shavings?