Pooooooooop!

[lazy gardener]

Agreed with other posters. I use DLM in coop and run. No droppings board here. I need to clean out some of the winter accumulation from the coop, then will add more dry leaves. and as the summer progresses coop and run will get bagged grass clippings. I have no fear of crop impaction. Never been an issue. Goal is to have 6" of DL in the run. 500 s.f. to cover, so... that's a continual work in progress. I have part of the run separated into a winter run. That is well covered, and the summer run is coming along. I can harvest beautiful black compost from the run any time I want.

I don't hang out in the run with my birds. If they are out free ranging, I may visit them, but for the most part, my flock are garden and yard helpers.

 

[Howard E]

The other thing I do is turn the dry run material over with dirt (some people actually take their tiller in; I just use a shovel and do a little bit every week) This turns the soil/droppings/shavings/straw mixture into really luscious looking soil. Ever since I started giving it a good turning, I can't believe how nice the coops look (and they don't stink!).

The birds will gladly do all that for you. If you have an area you want worked, simply toss a handful or two of raw oats on top of the litter and let them go at it! Any oats them miss may wind up sprouting and appear as greens, and they will eat those too.

 

[orrpeople]

The birds will gladly do all that for you. If you have an area you want worked, simply toss a handful or two of raw oats on top of the litter and let them go at it! Any oats them miss may wind up sprouting and appear as greens, and they will eat those too.

Our soil is too hard for their scratching to make much of a dent. (Very high clay content/low moisture) I have to use the spade shovel.

 

[aart]

I have no fear of crop impaction. Never been an issue.

Confined birds are way more likely to gorge on grass clippings.
It's not guaranteed that they will, but it's highly possible and something to watch for.
Also copious amounts of green grass clippings, not balanced with plenty of browns, can turn into a nasty anaerobic mass. Again, just something to be aware of.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Our soil is too hard for their scratching to make much of a dent. (Very high clay content/low moisture) I have to use the spade shovel.

The deep litter is what they turn.....it should not be compacted and hardened like your soil is

 

[orrpeople]

Yes. Of course, the litter isn't compacted. I shovel and turn compacted soil into it. It has really made a beautiful top layer. But i still like to get down into that horrible soil and continue turning it into the good stuff.

The deep litter is what they turn.....it should not be compacted and hardened like your soil is

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes. Of course, the litter isn't compacted. I shovel and turn compacted soil into it. It has really made a beautiful top layer. But i still like to get down into that horrible soil and continue turning it into the good stuff.

If you want a good work out, you can continue to do that. However, if you simply leave it alone, the micro and macro organisms in your soil will do that for you. You could spread 6" of mixed mulch material on concrete hard compacted soil/clay/subsoil. In a years time, with no work at all, you would be amazed what that deep litter on top in combination with the life in the soil will do to loosen things up. I am working just such an area right now with sheet composting. And my orchard is such an area. It should not be growing trees. In order to dig each hole, I needed to use a pick axe, and it took about an hour to dig a hole big enough to successfully plant a single bare root tree. I am using BTE style management. My dad was an Ag major in college. Last summer, I showed him my trees and he was dumbfounded by the growth on them.

 

[orrpeople]

If you want a good work out, you can continue to do that. However, if you simply leave it alone, the micro and macro organisms in your soil will do that for you. You could spread 6" of mixed mulch material on concrete hard compacted soil/clay/subsoil. In a years time, with no work at all, you would be amazed what that deep litter on top in combination with the life in the soil will do to loosen things up. I am working just such an area right now with sheet composting. And my orchard is such an area. It should not be growing trees. In order to dig each hole, I needed to use a pick axe, and it took about an hour to dig a hole big enough to successfully plant a single bare root tree. I am using BTE style management. My dad was an Ag major in college. Last summer, I showed him my trees and he was dumbfounded by the growth on them.

Nice! Sounds great!
The workout certainly doesn't hurt But I'm kind of expediting the process since I basically was cleaning pens all the time until I read some of @Beekissed 's info on deep litter. I like turning the soil also, because my girls go after the "things" I bring up. They get happy when they see me with a shovel!

 

[lazy gardener]

I no longer till the ground, unless I am breaking up a large new area that is concrete hard, or unless I am digging to install a walk way or some other labor intensive project. Nor do I "turn the soil". What I do when prepping a bed is shove the tines of my garden fork in, rock and lift it a bit, then move back an other 6" and repeat. One of these days I will have a broad fork, but, for now, this is my process. Even that amount of loosening will expose a ton of worms for the girl's digging pleasure. I do also occasionally flip some of the DL in the run for them. It is completely riddled with red worms. But, I don't get down into the clay base.

 

[aart]

The title of this thread has been cracking me up every time it reappears on my watch list.