Many questions about dirt floor coop and Deep litter/pests

[Reggan]

We're fortunate in that we can get free wood chips from the county and we have a buddy who does tree removal on the side.

 

[3KillerBs]

I plan to deep litter in the coop, but I think also doing deep litter in the run might be a bit much for me (and my back during cleaning).

Is it possible to do deep litter in coop and not run? What do I put in the run when the grass is gone?

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.

 

[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!

 

[Ridgerunner]

To me the key is drainage. If the coop or run get wet and stay wet it's probably going to stink and could be unhealthy. If it stays dry you usually don't have a problem. Of course there are other factors like chicken density but wet or dry is key.

Is it possible to do deep litter in coop and not run?

Yes, very possible. Technically deep litter is turning your coop floor into a compost pile. Lots of different ways to do that. For stuff to compost the microbes have to have enough water to live and reproduce but you don't want it to get so wet it starts to stink.

When I built my 8' x 12' coop (closed off the end of a shed with a dirt floor) I hauled in a few inches of clay dirt to raise the level above the outside. I also put in a berm and swale on the uphill side to divert rainwater. The coop has great ventilation so if it gets a little wet it dries out pretty fast but it also keeps rain out pretty well. It doesn't stay damp enough for those microbes to grow so it is technically not deep litter. If I wanted it to compost in there I'd have to occasionally water it. My bedding is wood shavings.

I have droppings boards under the roosts to collect the poop which goes in my compost pile. Depending on how many chickens I have in there and how dry the atmosphere is I might scrape that every week or every 6 weeks. If I wait too long to scrape it then it will stink. I've gotten pretty good about knowing when to scrape it to avoid that.

I have good weather so the chickens are outside practically all day every day so there is very little poop in there. I clean that bedding out once every three or four years, not because I have to but because I want that stuff on the garden. If I wasn't so lazy I'd do that more often. It's somewhat traditional on small farms to clean the coop in the fall and dump that on your garden and maybe till it in. By springtime it has broken down when you are ready to plant.

What do I put in the run when the grass is gone?

My 12' x 32' main run is on a bit of a rise and I put that berm and swale on the uphill side. The run is also covered. When it sets in wet rain blows in from the side so it does get wet, but it's not too bad. It's high enough it drains some. That's mostly bare dirt but I toss some stuff in there that I don't want to go in my compost pile, mostly flowers like morning glories, marigolds, or zinnias because of the seeds and obnoxious weeds, again for the seeds. It's not that much and only at certain times of the year, the run is still mostly dirt.

When it does set in wet for a while it can get muddy, but it doesn't stink that bad. I've dumped a few bags of pea gravel in a few certain areas so I can walk around in there without getting bogged down in mud. I also have an area about 45' x 65' inside electric netting that keeps grass in season and stays pretty dry in winter. That's where they spend most of their daytime so most of the poop is scattered out there.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The deep litter method has never really appealed to me, it seems like a lot of waste but that's just me. In the past I'd use a plastic sheet in the coop, let them poo on it and once it would build up a bit remove the whole sheet, roll it up and dump in in the bin.
I find things stay dryier and less dusty like this. No added waste either.

I suppose you don't garden? For gardeners, deep litter is far from wasteful - it can help use up waste from your yard and garden, and in return you can generate a lot of fantastic compost to feed back into the garden.

 

[3KillerBs]

In re: waste,

People who use Deep Litter or Deep Bedding report that they use less bedding overall because they're not cleaning before it is absolutely used up.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ding-why-do-you-not-use-deep-bedding.1445171/

 

[Sally PB]

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

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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[ClaytonJ]

The deep litter method has never really appealed to me, it seems like a lot of waste but that's just me. In the past I'd use a plastic sheet in the coop, let them poo on it and once it would build up a bit remove the whole sheet, roll it up and dump in in the bin.
I find things stay dryier and less dusty like this. No added waste either.

In the run, tbh I've never had to worry too much, usually the rain would just wash it out every once in a while. People like to use bark chips when it gets too wet and smelly ( something on my to get list atm).

I never had more than 4 chickens and they had a lot of space but I have noticed if you confine them more they make a lot more mess so maybe I will have to start a cleaning routine if i confine them more.

I to am also not a fan of the “DeepLitter” method. I understand that it’s easier and cheaper to clean it out once or twice a year but it seems lazy to me and it seems that all the chickens will be doing is digging around in their own poop. I can’t see how it’s beneficial to them.
I’ll probably just continue to take out all the hay, clean the earth s bit and sprinkle “DE” and a coop deodorant then replace the hay every 5days or so.