Rake or Not to rake Deep Litter?

[JoD2Tall]

Hi, I'm attempting the deep litter method in my 6x6x9'tall coop, and in my 10x12 fully covered run.

In my coop I have a wood floor, covered with interlocking gym mats to cushion their landing. They roost really high. The litter layers are approx. 6" deep now. It doesn't smell bad at all. There are a lot of feathers as my 5 girls are 4 1/2 months old. I'm brand new to all of this so forgive over explaining.

The run has a dirt floor, very rarely gets wet, even if it rains quite a bit. I have several inches of different bedding covering the dirt. Neither smell bad, just earthy. No ammonia. So, I think I'm doing it right. Really don't want to compromise their health with my learning curve.

My main question....I like to rake their bedding into piles to give them something to organize and occupy their brains. Is that defeating the purpose of deep litter, or is it helping in adding oxygen to break down? They seem to like reorganizing the bedding. I can't free range, though I really want to, because I live in the Rockies and we have lots of predators.

My next question, is knowing when to swap out the bedding? Because of the raking and their activity, no poo builds up anywhere. So, I'm relying on smell and their happiness.
They seem to enjoy the raking and have just begun going into the nesting box, making all kinds of new noises. No eggs yet, but I'm soooo excited, and really don't want to screw up their health and productivity.

 

[jbj25]

I use a deep bedding system in my coop, but the difference is that I use mine on a dirt floor. I keep it around 6-8 inches deep. I also don't use any bedding in my run. My run is well drained. I never really have any smell to mention from either the coop or run.

So, you wanted to know about the raking. The raking will not hurt it at all. I don't usually turn mine because the chickens actually take care of that pretty well. If you see a spot that they ignore than it is a good idea to turn it yourself every so often, but other than that you shouldn't have to. But, doing it anyway shouldn't hurt it at all.

I don't ever change my bedding because as I said I have a dirt floor. I add to it when it needs it, but that is usually no more than once a year. I think since you are not using a dirt floor that you may need to change it at some point. If no one else comments on that part then you can do a search on deep bedding systems on the site. You should find a wealth of info. on here about deep bedding system on floored coops.

Edit to add: I also use poop trays under my roosts so I don't get all that much in the bedding.

 

[JoD2Tall]

I use a deep bedding system in my coop, but the difference is that I use mine on a dirt floor. I keep it around 6-8 inches deep. I also don't use any bedding in my run. My run is well drained. I never really have any smell to mention from either the coop or run.

So, you wanted to know about the raking. The raking will not hurt it at all. I don't usually turn mine because the chickens actually take care of that pretty well. If you see a spot that they ignore than it is a good idea to turn it yourself every so often, but other than that you shouldn't have to. But, doing it anyway shouldn't hurt it at all.

I don't ever change my bedding because as I said I have a dirt floor. I add to it when it needs it, but that is usually no more than once a year. I think since you are not using a dirt floor that you may need to change it at some point. If no one else comments on that part then you can do a search on deep bedding systems on the site. You should find a wealth of info. on here about deep bedding system on floored coops.

Edit to add: I also use poop trays under my roosts so I don't get all that much in the bedding.

Thank you very much! I did do a deep bedding search, and there are so many posts, thoughts, and different opinions that I became a wee bit confused. Likely overwhelmed, hence the reach out.

 

[jbj25]

Thank you very much! I did do a deep bedding search, and there are so many posts, thoughts, and different opinions that I became a wee bit confused. Likely overwhelmed, hence the reach out.

You're welcome! And, I understand about all the confusion with so much information.

A very, very smart and knowledgeable former member is @aart. Even though she is no longer an active member (is a legacy member) you can still read her posts and articles. I don't know if she ever wrote an article on the deep bedding system (you can look to see) but I do know she had knowledge of it because I am sure I remember her making some comments on it a few times. So, if you run across anything she says about it, you can bank on it being correct.

I will look to see what I can find from her in articles and posts and If I find something I will share the link here for you.

 

[jbj25]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-is-the-deep-bedding-method.1594030/post-27091707

Go to this post by aart and click on the link in her post and that will take you to 3KillerBs article. There is probably a way to send you directly to the article, doing it this way will I know.

Edit to add: You can trust in the info contained in the article and I can say that without even reading it all myself.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The raking is fine, helps aerate and breaks up any chunks, though with the deep bedding in the coop it won't really compost down in place due to lack of ground contact and moisture. Same with the run, if it's really that dry... composting doesn't happen without some moisture.

Yes you'll need to clear out the coop at some point but given the volume of bedding vs the number of birds, you might only need to do it once or twice a year - that's the advantage of having extra space! I have a 6x10 coop with up to 12 birds and I just did my yearly cleanout, which mostly involves raking and leaf blowing everything inside the coop into the run where it start breaking down in the deep litter in the run.

 

[JoD2Tall]

The raking is fine, helps aerate and breaks up any chunks, though with the deep bedding in the coop it won't really compost down in place due to lack of ground contact and moisture. Same with the run, if it's really that dry... composting doesn't happen without some moisture.

Yes you'll need to clear out the coop at some point but given the volume of bedding vs the number of birds, you might only need to do it once or twice a year - that's the advantage of having extra space! I have a 6x10 coop with up to 12 birds and I just did my yearly cleanout, which mostly involves raking and leaf blowing everything inside the coop into the run where it start breaking down in the deep litter in the run.

Makes sense, thank you!

 

[cassie]

Hi, I'm attempting the deep litter method in my 6x6x9'tall coop, and in my 10x12 fully covered run.

In my coop I have a wood floor, covered with interlocking gym mats to cushion their landing. They roost really high. The litter layers are approx. 6" deep now. It doesn't smell bad at all. There are a lot of feathers as my 5 girls are 4 1/2 months old. I'm brand new to all of this so forgive over explaining.

The run has a dirt floor, very rarely gets wet, even if it rains quite a bit. I have several inches of different bedding covering the dirt. Neither smell bad, just earthy. No ammonia. So, I think I'm doing it right. Really don't want to compromise their health with my learning curve.

My main question....I like to rake their bedding into piles to give them something to organize and occupy their brains. Is that defeating the purpose of deep litter, or is it helping in adding oxygen to break down? They seem to like reorganizing the bedding. I can't free range, though I really want to, because I live in the Rockies and we have lots of predators.

My next question, is knowing when to swap out the bedding? Because of the raking and their activity, no poo builds up anywhere. So, I'm relying on smell and their happiness.
They seem to enjoy the raking and have just begun going into the nesting box, making all kinds of new noises. No eggs yet, but I'm soooo excited, and really don't want to screw up their health and productivity.

If you throw in a handful of scratch every day the chickens will keep the litter stirred up