How often to clean coop?

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
Well, I live in Hawaii and the temps in my henhouse are presumably comparable (probably mid- to high eighties in summer and high seventies in winter is my best guess). I use DLM, with straw, not shavings, adding straw and a little DE as necessary and and cleaning out house and run twice a year. If your coop is well-ventilated, I don't think the heat from the DLM would be that much of a factor. I've found that in it's normal dry state it only gets slightly warm to the touch, mostly near the bottom, enough to help warm an insulated coop slightly in cold weather perhaps, but not enough to make a measureable difference in a breazy coop in warm weather. It's in a semidormant state in the absence of sufficient moisture for true composting to take off, which is how you want it when it's in your coop. (Now, if you were to pile it into a compost heap and add sufficient moisture, then that's a whole other matter! It's great stuff for hot composting!) Then again, I don't go quite as deep as some--my litter rarely averages more than about six inches deep, I'd guestimate, by the time I clean it out--a far cry from the one or two feet deep that some people go for, but enough to metabolize the droppings from what is currently about a score of chickens and keep the smell down very satisfactorily...

I hope this helps. If I were you I'd try it out, and you may find you just have to change it more often, or not go as deep. It's still worth experimenting with IMO...

 

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
You've got yourself tied up in a knot of unfortunate imaginings. It's like saying, how do you manage to walk around outside knowing that you're stepping on dirt? Or stepping on millions of dead animals and dead people that have been accumulating for the past million years? Or how can you bear to walk into your house knowing that your shoes have been walking on sidewalks where birds have pooped and insects have crawled and dogs have peed? Or how can you bear to eat a carrot knowing that it grew in dirt? Or how can you bear to kiss someone knowing that mouths are full of bacteria? The DLM turns all the chicken poop into fine, nutritious fertilizer filled with minerals and enzymes and vitamins and healthy bacteria. Healthy for humans to eat? NO, not at all. But YES healthy for the topsoil of our entire planet. So the Earth and its earthen layer can be fed. And the Earth and the earth then becomes the garden that feeds the plants that feed YOU.

The DE and the pine shavings together with the earth beneath them, all combine with the chicken poo to create a chemical furnace that immediately works on breaking down the poo and changing it to plain ole, good ole DIRT. Compost. Fertilizer. And that furnace produces HEAT. And REMOVES THE SMELL OF CHICKEN POO. Cause it's NOT poo anymore. It's just good, rich, dirt. NO SMELL. No yuk. NO POO. If I were to hunt through the shavings looking for last week's poo I wouldn't fine ANY of it. Might find some of yesterday's. Maybe.

 

[motochick]

All this discussion, and I have yet to hear of anyone else use wood stove pellets instead of shavings. I've got about 3" of wood pellets that are doing a great job of absorbing moisture from the poops, and practicaly no smell for 8 weeks now. I'll find out just how much longer it will last, based on smells and how quickly it breaks down to sawdust. Super absorbant, I'm impressed. The larger intact dry wood pellets get scratched to the top and the pooped sawdust just
gets knocked to the bottom. But really, I can't even see any whole poops at all. It must break apart too and mix with the saw dust at the bottom.
And I know that the pooped sawdust is going to be great compost for my garden.

 

[jmtcmkb]

Quote:
I am using wood pellets and we are at 8 weeks and counting. I do see poop, but just the daily poop, every morning I stir it, takes just a few minutes. The older poop just looks dried up, I dont notice any odor yet.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

try throwing a bit of cracked corn or even whole corn in the litter, let the chickens turn it over. even less work for you and they will do it better, and more often. never thought of using preformed wood pellets. but im one for spending the least amount of money to get a great end result.

heres a suggestion. go to a horse stable. the higher quality/priced one the better. they change their stalls litter daily. they use a type of saw dust, not shavings. it has very little to no horse manure in it, b/c they pasture their horses all day so there is not much manure in the whole stall. they give this away free, and gladly. it does have a horse smell to it, but i like that smell. thats the best litter there is. it breaks down very quickly and chickens love it. you know its good if horse people use it for their high dollar horses. and what horse manure thats in there, chickens really enjoy it. they break it down eat the seeds thats found in it.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

Quote:
Well, I live in Hawaii and the temps in my henhouse are presumably comparable (probably mid- to high eighties in summer and high seventies in winter is my best guess). I use DLM, with straw, not shavings, adding straw and a little DE as necessary and and cleaning out house and run twice a year. If your coop is well-ventilated, I don't think the heat from the DLM would be that much of a factor. I've found that in it's normal dry state it only gets slightly warm to the touch, mostly near the bottom, enough to help warm an insulated coop slightly in cold weather perhaps, but not enough to make a measureable difference in a breazy coop in warm weather. It's in a semidormant state in the absence of sufficient moisture for true composting to take off, which is how you want it when it's in your coop. (Now, if you were to pile it into a compost heap and add sufficient moisture, then that's a whole other matter! It's great stuff for hot composting!) Then again, I don't go quite as deep as some--my litter rarely averages more than about six inches deep, I'd guestimate, by the time I clean it out--a far cry from the one or two feet deep that some people go for, but enough to metabolize the droppings from what is currently about a score of chickens and keep the smell down very satisfactorily...

I hope this helps. If I were you I'd try it out, and you may find you just have to change it more often, or not go as deep. It's still worth experimenting with IMO...

great post. there is some heat, but not alot like a true compost pile which gets way over 100 degrees. the amount of heat wont affect warmer climates, but its there for the fowl to dust in in when they want. i too have never truly gotten a DEEP litter. mine is never over 6-8" it breaks down so quick and im not needlessly throwing new on it till it really needs it. if in a warmer climate or one that has a tiny coop. i recommmend just hand turning it occasionally. it helps the hens by moving the more recent manure down into the litter. plus when a hen sees new litter they think its something well...um....errrrr.....NEW. they go wild scratching in it. and its always been there.

i must add, that earlier i stated shavings isnt a good litter. and it isnt. when used by itself. there is not enuff "substance" to it. but its good when used in cooperation with other types of litter, such as straw. i dont care for shavings period except they do add a different substance to the composting method. and they smell good. i had a fella that had a wood shop that did alot of turning, he brought me bags of the shavings. most went on the garden but some made it into the coops. i hate seeing/hearing ones use it b/c thats what others use and thats what the stores push. very expensive and not a good product. esp when there is much better out there for free. i wonder if those that are against DLM used a good litter other than just straight shavings, if they wouldnt be so much against the method

 

[gdplum]

Daily cleaning of my coop (32 hens)....without fail. Only takes a few minutes...I also scrub the roost with vinegar water. Sand on floor...I use a horse manure fork to sift the chicken poop. Save to bucket...spread on manure pile.

 

[jhook1997]

I'm new and trying the DLM but would someone tell me what "DE" is?

 

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
"Diatomaceous Earth," the crushed shells of fossilized diatomes. Used to control external parasites and also seems to help keep the litter dry. If you're using it with animals make sure it says "food grade" on the package--there's another kind used in pool filters that's poisonous...

 

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
Well, I live in Hawaii and the temps in my henhouse are presumably comparable (probably mid- to high eighties in summer and high seventies in winter is my best guess). I use DLM, with straw, not shavings, adding straw and a little DE as necessary and and cleaning out house and run twice a year. If your coop is well-ventilated, I don't think the heat from the DLM would be that much of a factor. I've found that in it's normal dry state it only gets slightly warm to the touch, mostly near the bottom, enough to help warm an insulated coop slightly in cold weather perhaps, but not enough to make a measureable difference in a breazy coop in warm weather. It's in a semidormant state in the absence of sufficient moisture for true composting to take off, which is how you want it when it's in your coop. (Now, if you were to pile it into a compost heap and add sufficient moisture, then that's a whole other matter! It's great stuff for hot composting!) Then again, I don't go quite as deep as some--my litter rarely averages more than about six inches deep, I'd guestimate, by the time I clean it out--a far cry from the one or two feet deep that some people go for, but enough to metabolize the droppings from what is currently about a score of chickens and keep the smell down very satisfactorily...

I hope this helps. If I were you I'd try it out, and you may find you just have to change it more often, or not go as deep. It's still worth experimenting with IMO...

great post. there is some heat, but not alot like a true compost pile which gets way over 100 degrees. the amount of heat wont affect warmer climates, but its there for the fowl to dust in in when they want. i too have never truly gotten a DEEP litter. mine is never over 6-8" it breaks down so quick and im not needlessly throwing new on it till it really needs it. if in a warmer climate or one that has a tiny coop. i recommmend just hand turning it occasionally. it helps the hens by moving the more recent manure down into the litter. plus when a hen sees new litter they think its something well...um....errrrr.....NEW. they go wild scratching in it. and its always been there.

i must add, that earlier i stated shavings isnt a good litter. and it isnt. when used by itself. there is not enuff "substance" to it. but its good when used in cooperation with other types of litter, such as straw. i dont care for shavings period except they do add a different substance to the composting method. and they smell good. i had a fella that had a wood shop that did alot of turning, he brought me bags of the shavings. most went on the garden but some made it into the coops. i hate seeing/hearing ones use it b/c thats what others use and thats what the stores push. very expensive and not a good product. esp when there is much better out there for free. i wonder if those that are against DLM used a good litter other than just straight shavings, if they wouldnt be so much against the method

Yes, good point, I should have mentioned that I do also turn the litter with a fork or soil cultivator maybe once, sometimes twice a week ("as needed"). This is key.

I too use a minimum of straw because I have to pay for it and it's almost $20 a bale here because it's shipped in... Sometimes I mix in some local grasses, weeds, garden waste, or a few leaves, but I've found that nothing I've tried works as well for me as the straw... And when you consider the fertilizer I get out of the deal, I'm really stacking functions on that straw, so it's still worth the expense... A LOT cheaper than any other OG fertilizer I can buy, that's for sure!