Results from First Year with Deep Litter Method

[beginnergirl]

Not all mold is bad. Is it from leaves? I'm in the pacific nw too and i know layers of leaves as they decompose they create a white mold.

Yep. I know microbes and fungus are an important part of compost. But I am sensitive to mold and don't know if DL would bother my lungs or not. My girls have no sense about walking on a big poo and I've washed their feet a few times. Right now I am composting outside the coop.
But interested in learning more.

Does deep litter have any benefits for the chickens? Or is it mainly a convenience for us?

 

[Bridebeliever]

I know you can do it even if you're sensitive to mold...but I'll let Beekissed answer...resident DL expert!

 

[Beekissed]

Yep. I know microbes and fungus are an important part of compost. But I am sensitive to mold and don't know if DL would bother my lungs or not. My girls have no sense about walking on a big poo and I've washed their feet a few times. Right now I am composting outside the coop.
But interested in learning more.

Does deep litter have any benefits for the chickens? Or is it mainly a convenience for us?

Lots or I wouldn't even be doing it.

Here's a link to information about the health benefits of it all, though there are a few points in his article I don't necessarily agree with regarding the type of material to use and how to manage it, but the rest is spot on:

http://plamondon.com/faq_deep_litter.html

ETA: I'm definitely no expert on this method, though I have explored it for some years now, I still feel like I'm learning about it every year. Every year I learn something else about the ways to encourage this stuff to flourish in my coop. I'm still learning right along with y'all!

 

[beginnergirl]

Lots or I wouldn't even be doing it. 

Here's a link to information about the health benefits of it all, though there are a few points in his article I don't necessarily agree with regarding the type of material to use and how to manage it, but the rest is spot on:

http://plamondon.com/faq_deep_litter.html

[COLOR=A52A2A]ETA:  I'm definitely no expert on this method, though I have explored it for some years now, I still feel like I'm learning about it every year.  Every year I learn something else about the ways to encourage this stuff to flourish in my coop.  I'm still learning right along with y'all! [/COLOR]

Many thanks! We are all learning. Good information.

Concerns I have are when they advise us to wear masks when mixing the lime. Lime is caustic and so will keep reading more. Sounds like not everyone uses lime though. I don't mind picking up poop. It goes pretty quickly.

 

[Beekissed]

Many thanks! We are all learning. Good information.

Concerns I have are when they advise us to wear masks when mixing the lime. Lime is caustic and so will keep reading more. Sounds like not everyone uses lime though. I don't mind picking up poop. It goes pretty quickly.

You wouldn't be using "caustic lime" at all, but garden lime or what folks call sweet lime. You don't have to mix it, either, but just sprinkle a thin layer in the DL when you want to, though many don't use it at all. I've only used it a time or two, but plan to use it more this winter for one reason and one reason only....because I like using my compost for seedling mix and in the garden and would like it to be more balanced for that reason. But, then again, adding lime to the DL can also give the chickens more opportunity to ingest calcium, phosphorus and potassium....all things that they would use in making egg shells.

Yes, wearing a mask is a good idea and also, do it when the chickens are not in the coop, and I'd limit where you place it to just under the roosts where the DL is the most moist and where it will do the most good. If your coop is already too dry, I'd not use it at all until that was corrected.

 

[beginnergirl]

Thanks for sharing this!

 

[eleaserek]

Ok, so this thread has been SUPER helpful! I do have a couple more questions though. I'm just starting out DL in my run, a combo of wood shavings and leaves for now. I've now discovered reading this thread that wood shavings are not super popular for DL because of how long they take to break down.Is there something better to add than wood shavings when I run out of leaves? And how does DL affect the fly population? This is my first year with chickens and I found myself at war with flies this summer!! Once the DL gets going, does it do anything to keep the flies at bay?? So far, the flies are the only down side of keeping chickens!

 

[Beekissed]

Ok, so this thread has been SUPER helpful! I do have a couple more questions though. I'm just starting out DL in my run, a combo of wood shavings and leaves for now. I've now discovered reading this thread that wood shavings are not super popular for DL because of how long they take to break down.Is there something better to add than wood shavings when I run out of leaves? You can add all kinds of things to your run....anything you'd add to a compost pile, you can add to the DL in your run. Sawdust, pine needles, pine cones, twigs, weed and flower trimmings, garden waste, kitchen scraps, etc. You can use wood shavings in the run if you can't get anything else, they are just not real easy to compost while in the coop, which makes one have to add more and more to keep the moisture and ammonia down....pretty soon a person's head is on the ceiling unless they paw all that out of the coop and start over.

And how does DL affect the fly population? It's great for that...the poop gets buried under the DL so the flies have little to attract them. The chickens will naturally bury the droppings as they scratch through the bedding, particularly if you build your DL nice and deep. I haven't seen a fly in my coop for years...some of that is due to feeding fermented feed, but much is due to the DL. I didn't even have flies in the coop when raising 54 meat birds there and that's saying something.

This is my first year with chickens and I found myself at war with flies this summer!! Once the DL gets going, does it do anything to keep the flies at bay?? So far, the flies are the only down side of keeping chickens!

Hope that helps!

 

[eleaserek]

Awesome! Thank you so much, that does help! I'm so looking forward to really getting the DL working. I'm been bumming leaves and grass clipping off all my family, lol. I'm pretty sure they think I've lost it

 

[Beekissed]

That will all end when next they visit your coop and run...they'll be amazed at the lack of smell, flies and mud. My mother is 81 and had raised many a chicken in her day and is STILL amazed that my coop doesn't smell like a chicken coop. She tells everyone about it. She particularly loves the absence of flies...she HATES flies.