Many questions about dirt floor coop and Deep litter/pests

[Sally PB]

I'm not a fan of daily manure handling, but I know that it works for a lot of people.

I still scoop every day, but with the poop board, it could easily go several days. Which is reassuring for when I eventually go on vacation. I can't imagine thinking of a coop without one now.

 

[chickencoop57]

Well its quite simple, I use the Pine shavings from Tractor Supply for the deep method, in my 4'x8' coop. I have a 8'x8' enclosed run, that's dirt, which has an opening to a 12'x25' open run, and its all dirt. No need to deep liter or use pine shavings for your run, but what I do is throw some Coastal hay into my enclosed run, especially after a hard rain, which usually hits us, in the Texas Hill country, before it hits yall. It just allows them to have some place that's not real muddy to walk or sit in.

 

[cmom]

I have some coops with just the dirt as the floors. I do not use anything but do rake them out periodically especially under the roosts. The birds take care of the rest when they scratch around. Good luck and have fun...
http://www.poultrydvm.com/featured-infographic/tips-for-protecting-poultry-from-predators
MY DH and a friend built these as a surprise but left one side open. An owl got in by going through the crappy netting and killed some birds because I didn't have enough good netting to cover these pens which I have done since. These coops all have dirt floors. I put tarps over the open side. The three metal sided coops have the dirt floors. The first picture is a rather old picture before I covered the pens with the netting.

The coop on the far left in the picture does have chicken wire over the open end. I also put some shade cloth over that end of that coop. It's hard to see in the picture. It hangs about half way down.

coops on the end.

 

[mgharris30]

Here is my article on Deep Bedding: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

In my opinion, this is much easier than trying to do a lot of daily maintenance, but it will be important to have good tools and a thoughtful design.

Poop boards can help stretch out the life of the bedding at the cost of more frequent maintenance.

As for the run you will almost certainly have to put something down in there after the green is gone -- unless you want to do very frequent raking/scooping to remove the poop from the dirt in order to prevent odor and flies.

As @U_Stormcrow has pointed out, a well-balanced Deep Litter system in the run is almost totally maintenance free -- just take out garden compost as needed and add more wood chips or whatever else you plan to use. (Coarse wood chips of the kind you get from a tree trimming service are usually considered the gold standard for run litter because they are absorbent, long-lasting, and do a great job of combating odor in the composting process).

With generous space in the coop and run the maintenance will be minimized.

This is wonderful, as was your article!! Thank you so much!

 

[3KillerBs]

I just installed a poop board about two weeks ago. I thought it would be an improvement, and I was right. What I didn't realize was just how much bedding (pine shavings) I had been taking out with the poop before the poop board.

I use a cat little bucket and a cat litter scoop to gather the chicken poop. Nearly all the stuff I gather is right under the roost, on the poop board. Now, what I dump in the compost bin is almost all poop. Before, it was about 2/3 pine shavings.

I'm not a fan of daily manure handling, but I know that it works for a lot of people.

 

[aart]

If you're in a cooler climate the deep litter method can help keep the coop warmer in the winter.

Not really.
In order for litter to compost 'hot' and create heat it needs moisture, which is not good for a coop....not to mention that hot compost needs frequent intervention.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

My coop dont stink- LololoololoHehehehehe
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/building-our-new-coop-deep-mulch.861352/

 

[Ridgerunner]

Same here. My full sized chickens would eat a mole if they caught it. No danger at all to chickens.

 

[Vicker]

No bottom or lining in my metal coop. I move it twice a year and add deep litter after they clean out the grass. I surround the coop with movable electric netting, providing an expansive grassy area to roam.

 

[mgharris30]

I deep litter both the coop (which has over 100 sq ft of floor space and the original run (like 800-900 sq ft of "floor" space, I wasn't very straight or square with the T posts). The only maintenance it takes is removing some shovels full of composted litter from around the coop door periodically, and throwing more litter at it each quarter. Admittedly, its a LOT of litter to cart over from my surrounding woods, 7 cu ft at a time... Hard to argue with the cost, however. Needs to be done again, sadly.

My second run is much larger still, and still mostly green - even with the goats in it. I'm leaving it natural for now, since deep litter would only kill of the green, like deeply mulching a garden.

If rainfall is managed so it doesn't get muddy or flooded, and the soils are suitable for it, you can leave the run as native sands, then rake periodically.

Truly, your run maintenance needs are determined by flock density. Lots of birds in a small area, lots of maintenance. Few birds in a large area, nature will do most of the maintenance for you. Just know that "lots" of space is LOTS of space. 30 birds in the original 800-900 sq ft run, even free ranging during most of the day, together with a month of no rainfall (unusual for us, but not unheard of) was enough to destroy every living thing in it, apart from a single badly beaten shrub. Part of why I built the second, larger run.

I currently have 11 chickens... I think 10 pullets. I'm not sure if I will be able to keep my two silkies in the same area as the other birds. I'll have to see how it goes. So... 9-11 chickens. I will need 110 square feet of run, minimum, right??
In East Texas, it has been raining like crazy. I may need to deep litter the run as well (after the grass is gone). Will I need to put something around the run to keep the litter in place?? I will have a hog wire run with about 3-4 feet of hardware wire around the bottom. (Maybe 3 feet and a 12 inch skirt???)