Results from First Year with Deep Litter Method

[cwrite]

My coop is a converted cubby house so not ideal for this climate, but for the last year the only moisture was in the air. We are having our first bit of decent rain at the moment. As soon as it stops raining all the moisture evaporates & the place practically steams. The ground returns to parched. I haven't even been able to get my compost to work because I'm not great at watering it & it dries out all the time. I'm still to be convinced that DL can work in a closed coop in this climate, but as I said, it works really well in the run when it's dry.

 

[Beekissed]

I figure the only way DL works in a closed coop would be in Arizona or Nevada or such like, where the humidity is nil and the need to retain moisture in the bedding is the biggest problem, so keeping a closed in coop is the best move. Don't know that I'd ever have a closed coop anywhere but in that kind of climate, whether I was using the DL or not....the more air flow in the coop, the healthier the environment for the chooks, IME.

 

[1hawaiian]

Beekissed- I've just read this entire thread and I just want to commend you for your heart to help others...for me this is the way Im going to go now...Thanks to you and the original thread starter! AWESOME!!! Knowledge is power!!!

 

[monkcat]

I have read this entire thread and will definitely be using the deep litter method. I live in the hot, humid South. Near the Gulf Coast. Have read that many litters are used such as pine shavings, leaves, pine straw, etc. My question is this: Can I use mostly pine straw? Will have leaves to rake occasionally, mostly in the fall, but pine straw is EVERYWHERE, all the time and would be the easiest and cheapest to get. If I have to use pine shavings I will. But would prefer not to buy stuff if I can avoid it. Part of my reason for wanting to use this method is that it is more natural and economical. Want my "cost of eggs" to be as low as possible.

BeeKissed, I love your practical, intelligent approach to this. BTW, used to have a place in WV. Beautiful country. Miss it. Thanks all.

 

[Beekissed]

I have read this entire thread and will definitely be using the deep litter method. I live in the hot, humid South. Near the Gulf Coast. Have read that many litters are used such as pine shavings, leaves, pine straw, etc. My question is this: Can I use mostly pine straw? Will have leaves to rake occasionally, mostly in the fall, but pine straw is EVERYWHERE, all the time and would be the easiest and cheapest to get. If I have to use pine shavings I will. But would prefer not to buy stuff if I can avoid it. Part of my reason for wanting to use this method is that it is more natural and economical. Want my "cost of eggs" to be as low as possible.

BeeKissed, I love your practical, intelligent approach to this. BTW, used to have a place in WV. Beautiful country. Miss it. Thanks all.

Thank you! One of our ladies uses mostly pine straw at her place and says it composts pretty well and quickly. If you have other things to mix in with it, it would make a great base for your mix. She has found wondrous black soil under her run since using the DL of pine straw there, when the rest of her soil is pale, sandy and not as rich.

Pine shavings aren't the best for litter though for a lot of folks it's all they can get their hands on, so it's okay if you never use pine shavings at all if you can get by with it. I use them on rare occasions...maybe once a year and not much. Sometimes I'll use them when establishing new pens, especially when it's spring and I don't have any leaves to use.

If you have any tree services that could dump you a load of chips you could use them in the mix as well...good stuff, especially for runs.

Will post this vid here as I've already posted it to the other DL thread and it seemed to help folks a lot to see the litter after it's been in use for 3 yrs....

 

[monkcat]

Thank you so much! I did watch it while looking though all the DL threads. To be honest, it is what finally convinced me to use this method. Your coop looks so cozy and the chickens look so happy. You make sense with the mimicking the forest floor. We have many acres of planted pines - literally a pine forest. I think between the pine straw now and the leaves in fall from a whole bunch of oak trees and hickory trees, maybe it will work. I should be able to gather enough to last quite a while this fall. The barn should have room for debris storage. The place we intend to build the coop will likely be dirt floor which should help as well. Just wasn't sure if throwing pine straw on a dirt floor and going from there would be good enough to get things going. Will be quite a few months before we have leaves as fall is late here. Usually October, sometimes into November.

I had read about the tree service dumping. Will definitely check into that. Lots of places to put it here.

Again, thanks for the information and your lovely delivery of same.

monkcat

p.s. Would love to know how often you "change it". I am hoping not to need to do it more than yearly. And if you ever do a video on that, would love to see it.

 

[Beekissed]

I never change it! What you see in that vid has been building for 3 years now. With a soil floor it just turns into dirt and gets assimilated into the surrounding soils. At times I take some of the fully mulched, rich stuff at the bottom to mix into potting soil to start my seedlings or to side dress plants in my garden, but I never fully clean out the coop. Folks with a wooden floor have to eventually clean out some of the fully mulched/soil-like stuff at the bottom so as to make more room but that usually doesn't happen for a few years either.

I took some out the other day to mix with my seedling soils and it had little earthworms in it...it was good to see them there. I left them in the soil so they could continue to feed on the goodness there while also nourishing my seedlings with their castings.

 

[enola]

I never completely clean it all out, either. Like Bee, I take out some if I need to use it somewhere for a soil amender. I am down to 12 hens now, so I won't have a lot to use this summer. Which is a shame because I will be starting a new garden.

When I was selling eggs, sex link chicks and started pullets, bagged DL was abundant. I was selling it to gardners for $5 per bag.

 

[monkcat]

Wow! That is even more awesome. I was hoping to have some nice compost to used when needed. At least I won't have to find someplace to put it until I need it! Love the earthworms. I'd be tempted to throw some red wigglers in there!

enola I can't even imagine where I'd sell that around here (boonies). As it is, I want so many types of chickens, I'm afraid I'll be overrun with eggs. Luckily, many people at work will take them off my hands if need be And as for all the compost, we do several good sized gardens, I'm thinking some will be tilled into the soil to improve upon it a bit. It's heavy clay soil and this would help immensely.

 

[enola]

Be careful, getting in over your head is not hard to do. The best thing you can do for your chickens is make sure you plenty of room for them BEFORE you bring them home.

Thinking you can knock something together before problems start is stressful on you and even more stressful on all of the chickens involved. Chickens do not understand that you plan on fixing crowded conditions as soon as possible. When chickens start getting on each other's nerves they turn to cannibalism to fix the problem.