Should I change out deep litter bedding before winter? Because it could cause too much moisture?

[pennyJo1960]

This is a great group there is never a time we cannot learn from others.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll just mention that I only clean my coop floor bedding out every three or so years. Not because I need to but because I want that stuff in my garden. I clean it out in the fall and spread it in my garden, then run the tiller over it to mix it in. By planting time in spring it has broken down.

If you clean it out in the spring what will you do with it?

 

[RoyalChick]

I'll just mention that I only clean my coop floor bedding out every three or so years. Not because I need to but because I want that stuff in my garden. I clean it out in the fall and spread it in my garden, then run the tiller over it to mix it in. By planting time in spring it has broken down.

If you clean it out in the spring what will you do with it?

You are more organized than me. I really should do that too. Instead I just go get a bucket of the wonderful stuff when I need it (rather than doing a full clean-out).

 

[Livvydays]

I'll just mention that I only clean my coop floor bedding out every three or so years. Not because I need to but because I want that stuff in my garden. I clean it out in the fall and spread it in my garden, then run the tiller over it to mix it in. By planting time in spring it has broken down.

If you clean it out in the spring what will you do with it?

I plan to begin a compost pile with it.

 

[Mrs. K]

There are going to be many ways to do this, as there are people doing it.

People worry about heat, and the idea that the deep litter is adding heat to a coop in South Dakota or Iowa is going to be minimal. And really, chickens do not need added heat. They produce heat, more than enough heat. What keepers need to do, is keep them out of the wind and DRY.

A lot depends on the number of birds you have, the amount of space they roost in, the space above their heads, and the type of bedding. All of those things determine the moisture in the coop. From your pictures, and the number of birds, I would expect you to be set up well. I would worry about the snow load on the outside on the 'roof'.

I have a wood floor in my coop, western SD is arid. However, a dozen birds already going to roost earlier and earlier and getting of the roost later and later - quickly the manure piles up. When temperatures are below freezing - that manure is frozen and dry. When it is 50's and above, that manure drys out. But when the temperature is in the thirties, it is not frozen and it is not dry.

Now you can toss scratch in the bedding, and they will fluff the bedding for you, tearing apart clumps so that they dry out. Which will prolong this bedding.

However, if you go into the coop and smell ammonia - you really need to get it out of the coop. I just pile it by the coop on the outside, add fresh bedding, and eventually get it up to my garden. If you clean up your garden in the fall, it is a good practice to put that bedding on top of your beds covering up your soil.

I have found, that I don't tend to get frostbite on my girls in bitter cold weather, all the moisture is frozen solid. When I get it, is we have been cold, then it warms up, everything melts, and that night the temp drops, and I will get frostbite from all that moisture.

So, I would not hold myself to a 'this is how I am going to do it' I would watch, smell, and look for signs of moisture on the walls, on the ceilings, on the hens. If that starts to happen, add more ventilation, and dry bedding.

Mrs K

 

[Livvydays]

Thank you so much for teaching me!! I wouldn't have thought about the moisture in the droppings when it's frozen and then thaws momentarily like that. That will really help me keep it on my radar better with that in mind. I hear some people say put Vaseline on combs and waddles to prevent frostbite. Is that a good thing to do? I think just following everyone's feedback is of course the best at being proactive but just curious about it. It's hard to know what is good advice on some videos you see. Thanks again!!

 

[Mrs. K]

Personally I have never done Vaseline. What is more important is ventilation which is so hard because one tends to worry about warm and wants to close the coop up tight.

Fresh dry bedding also absorbs moisture. Ventilation above their heads will pull warm damp air out of the coop.

Those are the things that work for me, occasionally one will get birds nipped, just a fact of winter. Let that heal up on its own.

Mrs K

 

[RoyalChick]

Thank you so much for teaching me!! I wouldn't have thought about the moisture in the droppings when it's frozen and then thaws momentarily like that. That will really help me keep it on my radar better with that in mind. I hear some people say put Vaseline on combs and waddles to prevent frostbite. Is that a good thing to do? I think just following everyone's feedback is of course the best at being proactive but just curious about it. It's hard to know what is good advice on some videos you see. Thanks again!!

I would avoid Vaseline. There is a risk it traps moisture next to the skin and makes the situation worse.
This is also true for people by the way and has actually been studied in soldiers deployed to very cold locations.

 

[2 Acres]

I am a new chicken keeper as of this spring. I have 2 olive eggers, 4 light brahmas and one misc breed. All hens.

My inside chicken coop is in the corner of a garage that is not heated or insulated. It's in the shape of a hoop coop made of cattle panels. The exit for the chickens is a ramp up to a window that goes down and out into their outside chicken run. I have large and medium size flake of purchased pine shavings for their inside coop bedding. I have been doing the deep litter method and so far so good. The reason I chose to do deep litter method was because I want to compost the used deep litter and because I learned the deep litter method keeps them warm in the winter. I have not changed out the bedding yet. I was waiting to do that in the spring which will make it a whole year by the time this is done. I was told once or twice a year to change out bedding is fine. I live in Iowa. We can get pretty cold to below 0 at times. The floor of the coop is concrete under the deep litter. I do plan to throw a tarp over the top of the coop for added insulation this winter.

The outside run is also in the shape of a hoop coop. There is no floor in it. Just about a foot of sand over top of the soil. I have a tarp over the top but I do plan to add more tarps to the sides and most of the front while leaving some areas open for ventilation. I understand it's the moisture and drafts that are most concerning for chickens in the winter.

So to get to my confusion. I was watching a video on preparing for winter for your chickens. In the video it said to take out your deep litter and add new bedding before winter. This really confused me because one of the main points I thought was for the deep litter to produce heat and if you change the bedding now it's not going to produce any heat. Did I watch a video that didn't understand that or where am I wrong in my knowledge of all this? I definitely don't want too much moisture for them. And how much ventilation is enough? I will try to take pictures of my coop to attach.

On a side note I think maybe I will have to move their roosting bars lower so not by the window during the winter. Or if the outside run is closed in enough maybe the roosting bars are ok there. I will have to play around with those thoughts as well. I will shut the window in between every night and likely put a piece of something insulated in between the window and coop maybe as well when it's the coldest.

Make sure you don't block out the sunlight. That is how they make vitamin D.