The ever evolving question...deep litter vs DE mix

[JustAileen]

Hi guys. So I know this is discussed often and I did do a search, but haven't really come up with an answer to my question. I'm torn between doing deep litter method with pine/yard clippings/leaves in the fall, and using the sweet PDZ/hay/DE combo that I inadvertently bought at a feed store (I didn't realize it had DE in it at the time). I live in a very dry area that gets little rain, the coop is an A frame with the run partially covered at the bottom (the chickens will free range for part of the day). I'm not too worried about rain because we only get rain in the winter for about a month or so, so I can use that time to change out the litter and start again with pine shavings until things dry out if I do deep litter. (please feel free to correct me if I'm thinking wrong about that)
I welcome suggestions as to what to do. please and thank you. Edited to add: I have both pine shavings and the PDZ mixture here waiting to go into the run, I just can't figure out which one to use.

 

[aart]

Sounds like you've read about all the options.
There's no concrete answer for everyone.
You'll have to decide and/or try a few things and see what works best for your scenario.
Pick one and give it a go!
Can always change it up later.

 

[Tamdog]

I am the kind of person who would mix the two together and throw them in the coop instead of making a decision,- That is my go to for when I have 2 options and cannot decide. then I would never know which works best or which one I like- and if you think I am kidding you just have no clue. I hate choices.

 

[NatJ]

My understanding is that DE is harmful to most kinds of "bugs" when it's dry, but has no effect when wet. So if things are wet enough to compost, it would then be harmless to the little creatures that do the composting.

A few minutes of googling tells me that some people put DE in their compost piles with no bad effects (still find lots of earthworms, for example.) Some people suggest that large amounts may be harmful, but I did not find anyone saying they had personally seen harm.

 

[JustAileen]

LOL I have thought about just mixing them up, but I thought DE was bad for deep litter composting?

 

[paintedChix]

You are going to want to raise that off the ground a bit on pavers or a heavier duty contact board if you want to use litter in the run.

Then you can deep litter it, all you want. Yours is 1 ft wider and 2 ft longer than mine. Won't take them long at all to have all the grass under it gone and a muddy mess when it rains.

Do you have pics of the inside set up?

 

[paintedChix]

Part of the DLM working is to have DEEP litter of different types and sizes to allow it to aireate and drain water through - it's recommended to often start with litter that is 8-12" deep. You don't have to start it that deep but you certainly want as deep as possible and you don't want it coming out the sides of your run at the bottom of your A-frame. That's why I mentioned cinder blocks/pavers as the base. Will allow room to do the deep litter, and keep your wood base out of it, too.

Ours are NOT fancy, but they do work. Here are pics of some of mine. Sorry, no current pics in 2019 or 2020, so far. Only a few of ours have been 8-12" at any one time when fresh material added, but they've had definite areas that came close (the largest run and the smallest, LOL)... DLM

I can tell you that we didn't get all the coops added material this winter/spring. AND the result is "lumpy", muddy, stinky mess, especially since we had 5.66" of rain yesterday; 0.72" of rain on Thursday and will be getting more tonight and this week. We are moving chickens from one stationary coop to our dog pen fenced area today/tomorrow. It's knee deep in weeds (our dog situation has changed and they are on a combo of being turned loose out front or being on tie outs) , the fence is 6' high, I have aviary netting that I think will cover all of it. Then while they are out, we'll "dig" their coop out (level it, some materials that are composted will be removed, not a lot). Then we'll add new DLM to their coop/run flooring... The 3 coops in the pasture will be getting made larger (wider by 2', currently they are CP hoops coops 8x8' now they will be 10 wide x 8' deep, remaining about the same height of right at 6'-ish. They will no longer be portable, but will be attached to fence posts) by raising them off the ground to allow for protection around the bottom and deep litter. The wood bases will be completely removed and both the rears and the fronts will be redone w/ new doors, too (the treated lumber, in contact with the ground has completely rotted out since being built in 2014). While each is being re-done, the chickens will be in temporary runs in a grassy area that was previously two different pony paddocks. Both free range chickens (previously) and the ponies did a great job of fertilizing that area and we have oats, wheat, rye grass and weeds growing there now.

Pics of the 3 pasture CP coops that will be "re-worked"... The one next to the barn.



The two behind the barn. They still have their original heavy duty tarps on them - from 2014. Just now wearing out. I'm looking to order water treated canvas tarps - should last a lot longer than any store purchased tarps.

 

[Tamdog]

Part of the DLM working is to have DEEP litter of different types and sizes to allow it to aireate and drain water through - it's recommended to often start with litter that is 8-12" deep. You don't have to start it that deep but you certainly want as deep as possible and you don't want it coming out the sides of your run at the bottom of your A-frame. That's why I mentioned cinder blocks/pavers as the base. Will allow room to do the deep litter, and keep your wood base out of it, too.

Ours are NOT fancy, but they do work. Here are pics of some of mine. Sorry, no current pics in 2019 or 2020, so far. Only a few of ours have been 8-12" at any one time when fresh material added, but they've had definite areas that came close (the largest run and the smallest, LOL)... DLM

I can tell you that we didn't get all the coops added material this winter/spring. AND the result is "lumpy", muddy, stinky mess, especially since we had 5.66" of rain yesterday; 0.72" of rain on Thursday and will be getting more tonight and this week. We are moving chickens from one stationary coop to our dog pen fenced area today/tomorrow. It's knee deep in weeds (our dog situation has changed and they are on a combo of being turned loose out front or being on tie outs) , the fence is 6' high, I have aviary netting that I think will cover all of it. Then while they are out, we'll "dig" their coop out (level it, some materials that are composted will be removed, not a lot). Then we'll add new DLM to their coop/run flooring... The 3 coops in the pasture will be getting made larger (wider by 2', currently they are CP hoops coops 8x8' now they will be 10 wide x 8' deep, remaining about the same height of right at 6'-ish. They will no longer be portable, but will be attached to fence posts) by raising them off the ground to allow for protection around the bottom and deep litter. The wood bases will be completely removed and both the rears and the fronts will be redone w/ new doors, too (the treated lumber, in contact with the ground has completely rotted out since being built in 2014). While each is being re-done, the chickens will be in temporary runs in a grassy area that was previously two different pony paddocks. Both free range chickens (previously) and the ponies did a great job of fertilizing that area and we have oats, wheat, rye grass and weeds growing there now.

Pics of the 3 pasture CP coops that will be "re-worked"... The one next to the barn.

View attachment 2168325 View attachment 2168327 View attachment 2168330

The two behind the barn. They still have their original heavy duty tarps on them - from 2014. Just now wearing out. I'm looking to order water treated canvas tarps - should last a lot longer than any store purchased tarps.

View attachment 2168326 View attachment 2168329

We live in NC too, one of my chickens got sick because of all the rain, heat and humidity - we will be working down in the pen tomorrow as well!

 

[paintedChix]

Since I live within a reasonable drive of your location I must say that I'm impressed that you found tarps that would last for more than a year or two of our brutal summers with the UV that's so hard on plastics. What kind are they?

DH always overengineers everything so he's not keen on the idea of using tarps for run shading or on the proposed meatbird tractor so I'd like to pass on your photos and experience with these particular tarps.

I wish i knew!! None of the tarps since, even one's listed as heavy duty, have lasted like those two. All i know is we did get them at Lowe's in 2014 & they were listed as heavy duty.

Those 2 silver ones now have holes in them - more from the cats than from weather.

 

[NatJ]

I really don't know which is better for your situation.
You could flip a coin to decide, or you could dump them both in--deep litter often works well if it's a mix of lots of things.