Pseudo DLM?

[Cryss]

I have a small TS coop for now. I realised too late that this won't let me DLM because the floor is only about 2-3 inches below the included roosts. I started out changing out all the pine shavings every few days. I noticed most of the shavings were still clean. I started sifting the obvious poops out daily as they grew (meaning more poops daily). Then once rvery 5? days I follow up by digging deeper and dumping buried poops and anything wet, and mixing up what is left behind (which often has bits of smaller poops still remaining). I leave most of the good shavings inside and add more shavings filling right to the top of the roosts. So it's bout 3-4 inches deep. I added a branch about 10 or so inches higher that 3 of my 4 gals use to roost, but one gal insists on using the low lying roosts.
My question is, is this close to DLM? I can't leave it for a year due to limited space. Is this a bad practice? Should I be cleaning out everything?

 

[sourland]

As long as the litter remains dry and your birds are poop free, I see nothing wrong with this.

 

[blackdog043]

And to add, if it doesn't smell. You could also sprinkle some sweet PDZ in there.

 

[Cryss]

The only time I smell anything is when someone drops a fresh one. *Ew*
Or when I forget to change my shoes.
Thanks for the responses.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I have rhe same coop (not sure if you remember lol). I don't do a deep litter in the coop, but in the run. I sift poops and any wet pine shavings out of the coop each day. And, I replace the shavings as needed. I also use sweet pdz with the shavings. With the width of the coop, it is easy enough to reach into the whole thing to sift. It only takes a few min. I then, take the sifted poos and shavings and throw them in the run. If needed, I top it off with a layer of dry shavings. Once a week (or as needed), I turn or stir the shavings so that it is nice and mixed. The chickens also do their job with scratching. But, i find the back of the run (under the coop) where I habe closed it off, that stays fairly dry. Plus, they get their dust ash all over in that area. So, stirring it makes sure it is all breaking down at the same time. The only time, I held off on placing the poos in the run was when it was really frozen and nothing was breaking down - so I trudged them out (through the snow) to the compost pile.
This keeps the coop dry and makes the run a tinier version of the dlm.

 

[Cryss]

I have rhe same coop (not sure if you remember lol). I don't do a deep litter in the coop, but in the run. I sift poops and any wet pine shavings out of the coop each day. And, I replace the shavings as needed. I also use sweet pdz with the shavings. With the width of the coop, it is easy enough to reach into the whole thing to sift. It only takes a few min. I then, take the sifted poos and shavings and throw them in the run. If needed, I top it off with a layer of dry shavings. Once a week (or as needed), I turn or stir the shavings so that it is nice and mixed. The chickens also do their job with scratching. But, i find the back of the run (under the coop) where I habe closed it off, that stays fairly dry. Plus, they get their dust ash all over in that area. So, stirring it makes sure it is all breaking down at the same time. The only time, I held off on placing the poos in the run was when it was really frozen and nothing was breaking down - so I trudged them out (through the snow) to the compost pile.
This keeps the coop dry and makes the run a tinier version of the dlm.

Yes! My run has woodchips because it got muddy during the assembling of everything. I toss the poops from inside the coop onto the run along with whatever shavings I'm removing. It's been pretty frozen but I'll be giving it a bit of a mixing when I can. I had closed off the underside too to keep it dry. How long have you been using this coop? I'm really hoping to make a bigger better coop cuz I think chicken math mught be about to hit me.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I have had it since the end of October with 4 full sized hens. I also want to upgrade. But, for now it is working. I let them out into an extended run when the weather is not a frozen tundra. Then, I have the whole thing surrouned by cattle panels that they are allowed out in while I am out there - until I get some sort of cover to detour hawks.

 

[Cryss]

I started putting mine together approximately the first of October, same approximate time my 4 gals were hatching. My local breeder raised them till they were able to live outside in the cold, about 6-7 weeks. I open the coop door into their dog coop run every day except blizzard days. If it's too freezing they choose to not go. My local chicken breeder threw a bird netting (or was it deer netting?) over the top of her run and hasn't had a problem with hawks since. I worry more about climbing critters.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I worry about climbers too. But, hopefully they only climb at night when they are secure in their coop. My husband keeps reminding me that we could keep adding layers of security and could still have issues and I agree, so I have to decide when enough is enough. Probably once I have a better coop ... lol

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Ooh sorry about that. Didn't catch all of the mistakes before posting that last one. It is fixed now, not sure how you read it. Lol