Welcome! I agree, it can be a lot, but the more automated you can set it up for yourself, that can potentially cut down on the workload.
I get it. I feel like a tired old mama most mornings, and I'm sure if the animals didn't need me, I probably wouldn't even get outside every day, especially in the winter. So I'm grateful that my animals are improving my quality of life just by being here!
I also use the deep litter method, with hemp straw bedding. The hemp is probably more expensive when it comes to bedding materials, but man, have I been happy with it! I recently added another bale since we were starting to notice a smell, (and plus it's been colder), but other than that, I just get in there with a cultivator and aerate it for the girls, but that's it! I'll have to clean it out and start over maybe April or May before the summer heat (and flies) set in, but it's been incredibly low maintenance and smelling fine for us all year since we set it up around last July.
Not sure if that helps you at all, but feel free to share pics of your setup, if there's any way we can help lighten the load. I know some folks use automatic doors too, that open with the daylight! Man, I wish I had one of those lol
and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
which can be lined with various materials. I scoop most big ol poop that gets dropped on bedding and soft it with cat litter scoop once every 10 days or so. That's also when I go out and pick up their frozen poop off of boards. Then I'll turn the bedding since it gets compacted sometimes. It's a pain in winter but I have an attached secure run so I leave their pop door open since they'd rather be outside. I'm winter the poo dies like up in coop but come more daylight hours they'll be outside dawn to dusk and only poop in boards. I lucked out and have electricity so my water has a stock tank heater in it. ( Mind you this is all because if hard earned lessons on my end. ) I hope this helps their are great articles on here about deep litter just use search above. Hope this helps you out. Welcome.
