Sorry...DLM question!

[lazy gardener]

Rather than take on a new project, I'd complete your coop revamping in the spring, then work on building up your DL during the spring/summer. You have a nice temp variation between indoor/outdoor temps. That's a good thing. Any frost bite issues this winter?

My DL is made up of mostly leaves and hay, with seasonal addition (as available) of lawn clippings, garden debris, and occasionally aged wood chips.

My litter stays deeper towards the back, where the roosts are. This seems to be a natural occurrence, and I give it little thought. My pop door is about 8" above floor level to account for DLM.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

I will take your advice on that. One thing at a time haha.
Both of my roosters (SS) got mild frostbite about a month ago. My fault, as I left the window closed after I cleaned them. It's amazing how fast moisture builds. They have healed up nicely, never had swelling (that I could see), and didn't appear to be suffering from ill effects. Although, I know that they are masters at hiding pain. I felt like an idiot
We have a ton of leaves in the fall, so I think I will start collecting this year. We also can get pine needles where we pasture cows, I heard those can be used? I'd also like to start adding to my runs, like you said in another post, so all of those materials can be put in there as well? I cleaned the coops this weekend and tossed everything into the runs. It was nice to have a layer of something over the snow and the chickens seemed pretty happy about it!
I guess it's going to be a bit of trial and error. If nothing else, I can always move or raise the pop door. It stays pretty clean/bare in front of it. I imagine the chickens push it out of the way when they come in and go out.
What is your floor made of in the coop? Do you let the lawn clippings dry out at all?

 

[eatwhatyougrow]

Do you have poop boards or just let it fall to the straw? Do you turn it or let the chickens do that? What is your floor made of? How often do you add straw? So many questions Thank you for the reply!

So no I do not use poop boadrs to me that defeats the purpose. You want that poop getting mixed in. It acts like a compost pile in your coop. So only thing I do is add more straw now and then. I let the chickens do all the work. And I'm in Michigan so by the time Winter comes that pile is a good 12 inch thick (again I start about 3 inches in late March early April) and because it's like a compost pile it gives off heat so I don't add any heat to my coop. (8'x8'). Floor. My floor is wood overlayed by some plastic ( the plastic was for like a stage floor) so like linoleum. So it protects the wood and makes really easy cleaning. I wash it down with water and a touch of bleach and then start again. Like I said it's what I have done for years. The only time I ever cleaned it out early was I had someone "gift" me some birds, while I was gone right into my flock and they must have been sick because all my birds got sick and died....long sad story...for another day. But I did clean it all out and disinfect it then. But haven't had problem since. So it works for me and is a double bonus, less work in the coop and built in fertilizer for the garden....

 

[jubgulia]

Totally different climate, I know, but I use pine needles when I can get them and they work great mixed with dried leaves, grass, bamboo, etc. I did put some curb blocks around 3 sides under my roosting area, which keeps the litter deeper under the roosts than the rest of the coop/run. I add new material under the roosts first and they scatter and mix and spread to their hearts' desire. In fact, I just scattered some extra pine needles under the roosts this morning. This it what it looks like right now:

 

[Meg-in-MT]

So no I do not use poop boadrs to me that defeats the purpose. You want that poop getting mixed in. It acts like a compost pile in your coop. So only thing I do is add more straw now and then. I let the chickens do all the work. And I'm in Michigan so by the time Winter comes that pile is a good 12 inch thick (again I start about 3 inches in late March early April) and because it's like a compost pile it gives off heat so I don't add any heat to my coop. (8'x8'). Floor. My floor is wood overlayed by some plastic ( the plastic was for like a stage floor) so like linoleum. So it protects the wood and makes really easy cleaning. I wash it down with water and a touch of bleach and then start again. Like I said it's what I have done for years. The only time I ever cleaned it out early was I had someone "gift" me some birds, while I was gone right into my flock and they must have been sick because all my birds got sick and died....long sad story...for another day. But I did clean it all out and disinfect it then. But haven't had problem since. So it works for me and is a double bonus, less work in the coop and built in fertilizer for the garden....

Thank you so much for all of your information. With all of the help I've gotten in the last couple days, I think I'll have a chance to make this work! It helps a lot to be able to talk to people about what exactly they do instead of trying to piece everything together.
I'm sorry about the loss of your flock, that's heartbreaking.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Totally different climate, I know, but I use pine needles when I can get them and they work great mixed with dried leaves, grass, bamboo, etc. I did put some curb blocks around 3 sides under my roosting area, which keeps the litter deeper under the roosts than the rest of the coop/run. I add new material under the roosts first and they scatter and mix and spread to their hearts' desire. In fact, I just scattered some extra pine needles under the roosts this morning. This it what it looks like right now:

View attachment 1264910

That's fantastic. Thank you! It looks so clean and fresh in there! How often do you clean yours out?

 

[Meg-in-MT]

@lazy gardener Do you throw scratch on the floor or do the chickens mix it up on their own? I threw some cracked corn on the coop floor yesterday but it just seemed weird to do it. Maybe I'm not reading or working that correctly.
Do you ever throw kitchen scraps inside, outside, neither?

 

[lazy gardener]

Totally different climate, I know, but I use pine needles when I can get them and they work great mixed with dried leaves, grass, bamboo, etc. I did put some curb blocks around 3 sides under my roosting area, which keeps the litter deeper under the roosts than the rest of the coop/run. I add new material under the roosts first and they scatter and mix and spread to their hearts' desire. In fact, I just scattered some extra pine needles under the roosts this morning. This it what it looks like right now:

View attachment 1264910

Lovely photo, and I like your coop. Please, more info. Earth floor, I'm assuming? I like your use of cinder blocks for the walls. What are the interior dimensions of your coop, how often do you, or do you ever clean it out? Do you get good compost action? My mental paradigm is that DLM can't work in the smaller coop/flock, but it appears that you are making it work for you.

 

[lazy gardener]

@lazy gardener Do you throw scratch on the floor or do the chickens mix it up on their own? I threw some cracked corn on the coop floor yesterday but it just seemed weird to do it. Maybe I'm not reading or working that correctly.
Do you ever throw kitchen scraps inside, outside, neither?

Yes, I occasionally toss scratch on the floor, and I chuck it in the areas that the birds need to churn up. But I don't give them scratch on a regular basis. I also give them some kitchen scraps, but usually toss those in the DL in the covered section of the run.

 

[jubgulia]

Yes, it is an earth floor. The covered roosting area is about 5'x5' and the whole interior ground area is about 8'x11'. This coop has only been finished a short while so I have yet to clean it out and I suppose time will tell. I used the same method in a very small run for just a few chickens and raising these chicks previously which I never needed to clean out, so I just added that litter into the new coop litter. The layers started (from bottom up) as dirt floor with a bit of growth, compost pile complete with grubs, old run deep litter, old coop aspen shavings with poop, piles of leaves (pear, guava, avocado, citrus, and bamboo), and topped with pine needles. The chicks mixed it all in no time going after those grubs. They didn't eat much feed that day!