Results from First Year with Deep Litter Method

[LindaB220]

And speaking of proper food, I love the fermented food.  BeeKissed, I have to ask about ACV ratios.  I'm a firm believer myself for human benefit.  Would never have thought of it for chickens.  I also make my own kombucha and hear that the excess SCOBYs are adored by chickens.

Hey Monkcat, way old post, but I'm catching up. I pour up kombucha in quart jars and seal for several months. Vinegar. I've started using it in my fermented feed and the waterers. Works great

 

[monkcat]

Hey Monkcat, way old post, but I'm catching up. I pour up kombucha in quart jars and seal for several months. Vinegar. I've started using it in my fermented feed and the waterers. Works great

good to know! I have some that is pretty near vinegar now and have thought about adding to see what they think. I've heard some people cut up the old mothers and feed to chickens. Said they go crazy for it. May try.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

This a great thread! I have straw in my coop now. I suppose it's about a few inches deep. The flooring in my coop is wood, but we laid a large rubber type mat in there (we were going to do sand initially and then left the mat when we changed our mind). I was thinking of cleaning it out before winter hits and then putting down a few inches of pine shavings, sprinkling some DE, and then a few inches of straw. Their outdoor coop is on the ground....so pretty much dirt now and a sad looking tree

Any advice on what I mentioned above? My coop is is probably 12x15.

 

[Beekissed]

This a great thread! I have straw in my coop now. I suppose it's about a few inches deep. The flooring in my coop is wood, but we laid a large rubber type mat in there (we were going to do sand initially and then left the mat when we changed our mind). I was thinking of cleaning it out before winter hits and then putting down a few inches of pine shavings, sprinkling some DE, and then a few inches of straw. Their outdoor coop is on the ground....so pretty much dirt now and a sad looking tree

Any advice on what I mentioned above? My coop is is probably 12x15.

What you propose would be deep bedding but wouldn't be deep litter in the true sense. It will be something you'll have to clean out soon as it will become saturated with feces and will not decompose, so you'll have to keep adding and adding to keep the ammonia smell down and you'll soon get too deep.

Pine shavings and straw can take years to decompose unless you add about 125% nitrogen and even then it takes a long time, moisture, etc. The DE will kill the very bugs you may need to aid in the decomposition of the manure and bedding. I've heard folks tell of using the DE and there being a "dead" layer in their DL where they applied it, where nothing has decomposed.

It might be better to use some healthy soil from the forest or garden...just a little to get your DL some microorganisms going...then start using materials that break down well, as well as some that are a little more woody and break down slower(but use these sparingly and only to add air spaces to your DL). Using a variety of materials, of different types and sizes, seem to work best. Holding moisture in the bottom layers and not disturbing that layer much will also help...add moisture if you need to do so, but keep it a little moist there for good decomposition. Once you have that good bottom layer going, build it slowly as you need more dry material and try to let it get 6-10 in. deep. Just lightly flip the manure under the roosts into the bedding or just throw some dry litter on top of the night's deposits. The bugs that help digest the manure don't like being exposed to the chickens/light, so covering the feces will put it where it can be worked on and will also trap the moisture therein into the layers below.

Here's a vid that may help:

 

[Tonikaya1]

What a great thread!

We have 29 chickens & 5 ducks Our coop is 12x24. The main room is 12x16. Floor is vinyl over wood. Raised off the ground about 4'-1' (on a hill)
Main bedding is medium and fine sawdust. With a little hay from the nest boxes and recently I threw in some dried grass clippings
In the small room where two hens are staying while being treating for injuries. I came across thris thread after thinking the grass may not be a bad idea for bedding.
We have a lot of grass we recently cut with a brush cutter and is just laying in the field. We also have way more leaves than we could ever know what to do with. I never would have thought to use them in the coop. So I'm thinking I need to try leaves and more grass. Don't the leaves get slimey? Or maybe its just they never get wet enough for that to happen? I also have access to long dry pine needles as well.

My questions....

1. How on earth do you store this natural bedding? And it can't be even a little wet, right? Does it ever go bad or get moldy?

2. We have a poop deck we scrape into a bin every day or Every other day and dump into the manure pile. DLM will still work even with getting rid of poop deck poop, right? And if/when I am lazy, it could be thrown into the bedding, right?

3. We do not have a run yet, they free range all day but come in to eat and use nesting boxes, sometimes the ducks will come in to take a nap. Will DLM still work if they aren't in there a ton? I think they will hang out more inside once weather gets bad (NE Ohio). I have thrown a little scratch down to encourage them to scratch, I do find them quite often scratching thru the bedding.

4. Under the coop is kow just dirt, of course it gets a little muddy when it rains, but it is on a hill, so water doesnt set there. Coop is against barn, so underneathe is closed in on one side, thinking of closing in the low side too to help it stay drier under it. Thinking DLM type of a deal under there too? Any ideas suggestions?


Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Beekissed]

What a great thread!

We have 29 chickens & 5 ducks Our coop is 12x24. The main room is 12x16. Floor is vinyl over wood. Raised off the ground about 4'-1' (on a hill)
Main bedding is medium and fine sawdust. With a little hay from the nest boxes and recently I threw in some dried grass clippings
In the small room where two hens are staying while being treating for injuries. I came across thris thread after thinking the grass may not be a bad idea for bedding.
We have a lot of grass we recently cut with a brush cutter and is just laying in the field. We also have way more leaves than we could ever know what to do with. I never would have thought to use them in the coop. So I'm thinking I need to try leaves and more grass. Don't the leaves get slimey? Or maybe its just they never get wet enough for that to happen? I also have access to long dry pine needles as well.

My questions....

1. How on earth do you store this natural bedding? And it can't be even a little wet, right? Does it ever go bad or get moldy? I wait until leaves/materials are at their driest and then rake them all up and place in large black trash bags or spare plastic trash cans. If in the bags, I poke many holes in the sides to allow for air flow and then store them in our shed. I place much of it directly into the coop about 2 ft. deep and let the birds wade for awhile until that compacts down. It doesn't go bad and leaves already have much leaf mold, so no worries about that....you will have to have some level of good molds in the coop to aid in the composting process. I've never stored dry grass other than baled hay and that too tends to absorb moisture all on its own, even under dry storage, so no escaping certain amounts of mold. As long as you have really good ventilation, that shouldn't matter much at all.

2. We have a poop deck we scrape into a bin every day or Every other day and dump into the manure pile. DLM will still work even with getting rid of poop deck poop, right? And if/when I am lazy, it could be thrown into the bedding, right? You'll want that poop to mix with your dry matter in order to compost. A good, composting DL will just digest all that poop....all you need to do is lightly turn it over into the DL or toss a thin layer of dry DL over the roost leavings every morning or every other morning. Easy to do, takes just a few seconds each day. It always amuses me that, while everyone else is trying to get rid of the poop, I'm conserving mine as much as possible to mix with the litter.

My flock free ranges all year, so I usually only get the roost deposits in my DL.

3. We do not have a run yet, they free range all day but come in to eat and use nesting boxes, sometimes the ducks will come in to take a nap. Will DLM still work if they aren't in there a ton? I think they will hang out more inside once weather gets bad (NE Ohio). I have thrown a little scratch down to encourage them to scratch, I do find them quite often scratching thru the bedding. See above...save that roost poop!

4. Under the coop is kow just dirt, of course it gets a little muddy when it rains, but it is on a hill, so water doesnt set there. Coop is against barn, so underneathe is closed in on one side, thinking of closing in the low side too to help it stay drier under it. Thinking DLM type of a deal under there too? Any ideas suggestions? I would! I do the same thing...I have a spare pen by the shed where they lounge on rainy or snowy days in the fall/winter and I keep DL there to keep that area smelling good, healthier, and to digest all the poop deposited there.


Thanks in advance!!!

With good management~use of easily composted materials~ and great ventilation, you won't need to remove any of that DL for quite some time....and when you do, it'll be lovely, perfect compost you can use directly on the garden. My advice is to add thin layers of garden lime to your DL now and again to sweeten it and keep it more balanced for later garden applications. I failed to do that before but this year I intend to be more diligent with it. The lime will also help with moisture and odor control, while also contributing to the flock's calcium and phosphorus intake as they partake of food(insects/worms) of the food found there.

 

[enola]

I rake my leaves into a huge pile and cover it with a tarp. Some people store their leaves in huge plastic bags. I already have the tarp so that is what I use. I don't have a poop board, all the poop goes on the floor. I add mowed grass, leaves, weeds, twigs, anything that is organic and free.

 

[sophiaw00]

I just re-read the first post which mentions coffee grounds being fed to the chickens. I have never heard of this and wanted to double check to see if it was OK for them to eat.

 

[enola]

The chickens won't eat the coffee grounds, but the deep litter will love it.

 

[eleaserek]

Ok, so yet another DE question. I would like to start DL in my run. However, I started the year out with grass (it's my first year with chickens so I took part of the lawn for them

) obviously 6 months later, the grass is long gone and now it's dirt. The thing that I'm worried about is that about 3 weeks ago (before I found this wonderful post) I got fed up with flies and after I raked as much poo as I could I sprinkled the whole area with a fine layer of DE. Now I'm worried that I'm going to have to remove a layer of dirt to have successful DL!

So I guess my question is this, will that DE prevent the composting, or because it's outside in the run after almost a month will it have dissipated enough to be ok?