How many chickens do you have?
47? I think?
It's a changing mix of adults and chicks of various ages and both sexes. I want to get down under 30 for winter.
What sort of climate do you live in? Wet or dry? Hot or cold?
Hot and Humid.
Winter daytime highs are rarely below freezing and we only see single digits F once every 3-5 years. Some years there's no snow at all, some years we have a couple episodes of a couple inches.
Summer highs are in the mid-upper 90s from June through August -- during that time we consider 90F a cool day. For weeks on end the nighttime lows won't drop below 75.
We have wet years and drought years, wet months and drought months.
What bedding do you prefer in the coop? What are it's major advantages? What are it's major disadvantages?
Two of my coops are Open Air style so I'll lump their mangement into the management of my runs.
In the
Little Monitor Coop and in the
Outdoor Brooder I mainly use large-flake pine shavings. They're readily-available, they are highly absorbent, they don't pack or mat readily, and they're easy to handle. Sometimes I mix in some pine straw to improve the resistance to packing.
Their main disadvantage is that they don't compost quickly, even in this favorable climate.
How do you manage your coop bedding? Do you have a poop board? Do you scoop poop? How often do you change the bedding?
I use the Deep Bedding method as described in this article:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/
I do not have poop boards and don't scoop. The Little Monitor Coop gets cleaned every 8-16 weeks according to need. The brooder is cleaned between batches of chicks or alternate batches of chicks depending on how many chicks I had and how long they stayed in that coop before integration.
What litter do you prefer in the run? What are it's major advantages? What are it's major disadvantages?
My 2 open air coops,
Neuchickenstein and
Camp Cockerel are, in essence, covered runs with shelters on one end so I manage them like runs, using the Deep Litter method.
The foundation for Neuchickenstein is a layer of coarse wood chips from having tree work done with pine straw, straw, and yard waste mixed in.
Camp Cockerel is in my garden and subject to being moved when needed so I don't use the wood chips there. So far straw and yard waste have been sufficient.
The advantage of wood chips is that NOTHING is better for keeping odor down and preventing dampness from becoming a problem -- important because I discovered that Neuchickenstein's roof created a drainage problem and haven't put a gutter on it yet.
The advantage of pine straw is that it's free for the raking all fall and winter -- when it has to be raked up anyway -- and that it always dries out rapidly on top no matter how heavy the rainfall. Seriously -- even after a hurricane the pine straw is dry on top by the second clear day.
The disadvantage of either is that they don't compost as well as other options and that the pine straw is less absorbent.
I use straw from time to time for various reasons, some of which I explored here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/24690969 One advantage is that it composts readily. Another is that I sometimes get it free from the historic site where my DH works after a reenactment. A third advantage is that an intact straw bale or, one with one tie cut, is a terrific boredom buster for chickens that are confined.
Disadvantages are that it is apt to mold/mildew in the bale, pack/mat when used alone as litter, and that it's getting both more expensive and irregular in quality.
The big advantage of yard waste is that it's free. The big disadvantage is that it's in irregular supply.
How do you manage your run litter? Is your run covered against rain/snow or open to the weather? Do you scoop poop?
My run-run is open. Currently I still have grass but when the growing season is over I'll primarily use pine straw. I never scoop poop.
If you have more than one coop/run do you manage them differently? Why?
See above.
The Little Monitor Coop and the brooder have floors. Neuchickenstein and Camp Cockerel do not.
Has your system changed over time? Why?
Yes, I've learned how far I can take the Deep Litter system and I've become more open to experimenting with different materials depending on availability and cost.
I've learned that I prefer to use a mix of materials over just one material because I think that a mix resists packing, matting, and the development of anaerobic pockets better than a single material used alone.
Is there something you'd like to change if you could? Why? What is preventing you from changing it?
I should have designed Neuchickenstein differently to make adding new material at the top of the slope and getting compost out at the bottom easier.
