Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Peep-Chicken]

Thank you I just got 15 baby's from a hatchery and I got a polish some how!

I love polish! What color is it?

 

[uchytil]

Guess I'm pretty lucky here in Livingston County...think I can get like 5 doe take per DAY for my own private land! Good luck!

I get emails from the DNR & knew that we had to get the base license regardless of whether you hunt small game...I forget where they said the money was going, other than I remember thinking "ok, that seems like an good use"...

I feel kinda bad. The youngster was here the other evening..& no mama. At first thought maybe she was at the edge of the woods watching; but, no. Poor little thing walked around my yard,,hopped over to the neighbors & just kept looking around looking totally lost. Think mom was either taken during the youth hunt/early antlerless weekend or maybe a car.
I did have 3 perfect does in my front yard yesterday morn, hope they figure out that they need to be in the backyard soon

We could take 2 a day and as many as you'd like a few years ago. Last year they stopped that due to health concerns that reduced the herd. I have a ton of does on my property and I'll thin two. A few twins running around too, they walk up to my goat pens the little darlings, lol!

 

[RaZ]

A few days ago I posted a missive about housing chickens over the winter and commented about heat, light and such in the coop. I hope that was helpful for the readers of this thread. Nobody flamed me so I guess that the information was OK.

Now I want to touch on another subject. This is about the deep litter method in a coop. I have read on various threads that the DLM is helpful in winter because the deep litter composts and releases heat. I think that it is time to debunk that theory.

I spent the afternoon cleaning my coop which is a deep litter mix of straw and pine shavings. All of the material is a year old. Every bit of bedding that I removed was bone dry. There was no sign of decomposition (composting) anywhere. I expected as much as composting requires a mix of green and brown material plus a good bit of moisture. A decently kept coop should have almost no moisture in the bedding.

The material that I removed from the coop was nearly pristine except for a little bit of chicken poo that missed the poop boards and the tamped down areas where the hens walk. I think that I could easily get another year out of that bedding with a bit of fluffing.

Nevertheless, I removed all of the bedding and started a new compost bin in the garden. New bedding in the coop is fresh straw. Nest boxes are fresh pine shavings. The coop is 9' x 11' and three (3) bales of straw made a nice floor some 8 inches deep. I have more bales to ado youdd as needed.

So now I pose the question, do you think that deep litter is a heat source in the coop?

 

[aart]

A few days ago I posted a missive about housing chickens over the winter and commented about heat, light and such in the coop. I hope that was helpful for the readers of this thread. Nobody flamed me so I guess that the information was OK.

Now I want to touch on another subject. This is about the deep litter method in a coop. I have read on various threads that the DLM is helpful in winter because the deep litter composts and releases heat. I think that it is time to debunk that theory.

I spent the afternoon cleaning my coop which is a deep litter mix of straw and pine shavings. All of the material is a year old. Every bit of bedding that I removed was bone dry. There was no sign of decomposition (composting) anywhere. I expected as much as composting requires a mix of green and brown material plus a good bit of moisture. A decently kept coop should have almost no moisture in the bedding.

The material that I removed from the coop was nearly pristine except for a little bit of chicken poo that missed the poop boards and the tamped down areas where the hens walk. I think that I could easily get another year out of that bedding with a bit of fluffing.

Nevertheless, I removed all of the bedding and started a new compost bin in the garden. New bedding in the coop is fresh straw. Nest boxes are fresh pine shavings. The coop is 9' x 11' and three (3) bales of straw made a nice floor some 8 inches deep. I have more bales to ado youdd as needed.

So now I pose the question, do you think that deep litter is a heat source in the coop?

Never have, never will....get flamed whenever I mention it....oops.
Needs too much moisture to cook, which we know is not good in a coop.

I took 13 cuft of shavings, feed, poops(except for roost board gatherings) out of the coop this spring, dry as a bone. I sprinkled it with water while piling, didn't cook.......It took 10 gallons of water to get it cooking, but 24 hours later 160F.

 

[RaZ]

Never have, never will....get flamed whenever I mention it....oops.
Needs too much moisture to cook, which we know is not good in a coop.

I took 13 cuft of shavings, feed, poops(except for roost board gatherings) out of the coop this spring, dry as a bone. I sprinkled it with water while piling, didn't cook.......It took 10 gallons of water to get it cooking, but 24 hours later 160F.

When I was working for my advanced master composter certificate I was told that a backyard compost heap would never reach that temperature. My final project showed that it could be done. I monitored the C:N and moisture content. I hit and held 154 degrees for several days.
Granted that was a controlled experiment.

 

[1muttsfan]

I don't think of it as heat source, but mine breaks down quite well to a crumbly mixed material by the time a year is up. I do not use poop boards, so all manure is incorporated. You do have to toss it around periodically to avoid wet and dry spots.

 

[RaZ]

I don't think of it as heat source, but mine breaks down quite well to a crumbly mixed material by the time a year is up. I do not use poop boards, so all manure is incorporated. You do have to toss it around periodically to avoid wet and dry spots.

I'm curious as to how the litter breaks down. The straw I have is not breaking down at all.

 

[chickwhispers]

I use deep liter but I change it out 3 to 4 times a year. I have cement floors so I use it more to keep the floor from getting too cold and to give the girls a softer floor. Mine doesn't really break down very much at all only on the very bottom is ther any kind of decomposing at all if any. And only under the roosts. .

 

[boersmamrs]

When I was working for my advanced master composter certificate I was told that a backyard compost heap would never reach that temperature. My final project showed that it could be done. I monitored the C:N and moisture content. I hit and held 154 degrees for several days. .
Granted that was a controlled experiment. 

hey t here, my coop is about two feet lifted off the ground, could I pack compost undearneath it this winter to help
keep the coop warm? Is this a stupid question?

 

[preciouskitty]

I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SLEEP FOR 2 NIGHTS

(Yes, I am yelling!)