Sand or deep litter for a warmer coop?

[lazy gardener]

Today, I was out in the DL run helping the girls "work" the DL. It was a wet compact mess. I loosened it up a bit, and they went nuts harvesting worms from the DL. Right now, the DL is almost 100% leaves. And it is very wet. No new materials available to add, other than leaves or hay until the ground thaws and things start growing again.

 

[Dani & Mikey]

Today, I was out in the DL run helping the girls "work" the DL. It was a wet compact mess. I loosened it up a bit, and they went nuts harvesting worms from the DL. Right now, the DL is almost 100% leaves. And it is very wet. No new materials available to add, other than leaves or hay until the ground thaws and things start growing again.

And you find that it still works just fine as long as you get out there and mix it up a bit?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Pitchforks do wonders for deep litter, much like they do for compost piles.

 

[Stephine]

Is anybody using oak leaves in their DL run? Those are the only leaves we have around here, but they are listed as toxic to chickens, so I have been sticking to coarse shavings and chopped straw, plus whatever is left of the loads of weeds I toss them every day, roots and all (I just take out the thickest longest stems).

 

[sweetater22]

Oak leaves work great in my DL.

 

[Dani & Mikey]

Is anybody using oak leaves in their DL run? Those are the only leaves we have around here, but they are listed as toxic to chickens, so I have been sticking to coarse shavings and chopped straw, plus whatever is left of the loads of weeds I toss them every day, roots and all (I just take out the thickest longest stems).

Super silly question, where do you get chopped straw? I don’t recall seeing it in our feed stores or TSC.

 

[nminusyplusm]

Super silly question, where do you get chopped straw? I don’t recall seeing it in our feed stores or TSC.

Kind of pricey: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...-western-forage-certified-chopped-straw-25-lb

Regular cheap baled straw works perfectly for DL. My chickens turn it into chopped straw in a few days.

 

[Stephine]

Super silly question, where do you get chopped straw? I don’t recall seeing it in our feed stores or TSC.

Yep, the Standlee is what I get - they have it at our local feed store. I like the chopped stuff because it is so much easier to deal with - rake and turn in the run, lang straw is such a mess and my chickens do not chop it for me... though some like to eat the whole long stalks like spaghetti which is also concerning.

 

[nminusyplusm]

Yep, the Standlee is what I get - they have it at our local feed store. I like the chopped stuff because it is so much easier to deal with - rake and turn in the run, lang straw is such a mess and my chickens do not chop it for me... though some like to eat the whole long stalks like spaghetti which is also concerning.

For me the chopped straw is messier because high winds blow it through the hardware cloth out of the coop... but one of the great parts about DL is that there isn't one single way to do it right, we can all find our own materials and techniques that suit our individual needs and chickens.

 

[MaggieMay'sMom]

I use both in different coops.

I use sand in an old camper we converted into a chicken coop. It works great, but it must be play sand. If you use construction sand it is to dusty.
The sand stays dry. Wet sand is no good! I also occasionally add sweet PDA stall refresher.

Very easy to clean (cat litter scoop). I do clean daily.

Outside hoop house on dirt is deep litter. Works great. I clean twice a year .