I use deep litter. When I first set up my chicken house (its a converted shed like yours but its up off the ground and has a wood floor)
I laid down a good six inches of pine shavings. About once a week I go in there while the chickens are out and use a steel rake to stir it all up in places where there may be a lot of poop (under the favorite roost) or if the water spilled at all. Basically I stir the whole floor really well. Then I add about an inch or so of clean shavings on top, nice and smooth. Sometimes I throw down a little corn so the chickens willl scratch a little more. About once a month, or as needed, I remove about a third of the bedding, scooping it onto a big plastic sheet thing that I then drag over to the compost. I stir up the rest, rake it smooth and add enough fresh clean chips to return it to about six inches. In the winter I keep it deeper and rarely remove any bedding. It gets really deep but its snug as a bug. In the spring I take out every last chip, scrub the floor, leave it dry all day with all the windows and doors open and then lay down a new six inch bed of clean chips. There has never ever been a smell in my coop and I dont ever medicate any of my flock.
Re: roosts: I went into the woodline and cut down some young trees, poplars in my case, that were about 5 inches wide at the wide end and about 3 at the narrow end and use those as roosts with the bark on them. No slipping and the chickens who want it a little wider stay at one end whiel the ones who like it smaller (my little Hamburgs for example) stay at the other ends.
I laid down a good six inches of pine shavings. About once a week I go in there while the chickens are out and use a steel rake to stir it all up in places where there may be a lot of poop (under the favorite roost) or if the water spilled at all. Basically I stir the whole floor really well. Then I add about an inch or so of clean shavings on top, nice and smooth. Sometimes I throw down a little corn so the chickens willl scratch a little more. About once a month, or as needed, I remove about a third of the bedding, scooping it onto a big plastic sheet thing that I then drag over to the compost. I stir up the rest, rake it smooth and add enough fresh clean chips to return it to about six inches. In the winter I keep it deeper and rarely remove any bedding. It gets really deep but its snug as a bug. In the spring I take out every last chip, scrub the floor, leave it dry all day with all the windows and doors open and then lay down a new six inch bed of clean chips. There has never ever been a smell in my coop and I dont ever medicate any of my flock.
Re: roosts: I went into the woodline and cut down some young trees, poplars in my case, that were about 5 inches wide at the wide end and about 3 at the narrow end and use those as roosts with the bark on them. No slipping and the chickens who want it a little wider stay at one end whiel the ones who like it smaller (my little Hamburgs for example) stay at the other ends.
