The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Sally8]

I usually take out about half of the deep litter out of the chicken coop come spring and spread it around my blueberry bushes and straw berry plants plus in the flower beds spread all over. During the year in my duck and goose house i use deep litter too but everyday I do remove the soiled bedding it usually not much but having 15 water fowl it can add up in a week, that I go ahead and spread out around bushes and what ever i see may need some mulch. I haven't removed all the DL in my chicken coop in about 3 years. The only reason I did it then was because I had a mite infestation and was told I needed to completely remove all litter to treat the coop and kill the mites.

Were you able to get rid of the mites? It took me a long time to get rid of them.

 

[jendodd79]

We just started our DL in November. Will we be able to use it for the garden this year? I also just started a compost at the same time, so I'm wondering if I'm not going to have anything ready to spread on the garden until next year.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes I got rid of them but had another out break this past fall, oh how i hate them things, this time I used neem oil as as spray and did not remove the DL, also used Nu stock on the birds haven't had any mites since, all one has to do it scratch and I have her snatched up and going through her feathers. I also spray down the cracks in the walls where the boards come together and the roosts once a month with neem. What did you use to get rid of yours.?

 

[galefrances]

OH... And I plan on taking about half - 3/4 of it out in the spring to place either on the compost for further deterioration or right onto the garden. Then I'm going to continue on with the the litter adding new as needed. Kind-of like doing a ff by adding new to a little leftover old.

If I had too much for the garden, I'd put some of it in the enclosed run with some new wood chips or leaves or whatever to get my bedding deeper out there. My goal out there is to eventually get it deep enough that there are still bugs/worms that stay insulated enough under it in the winter that the chickens can scratch down to access.

I never thought of putting it into the run. That's a great idea.

 

[galefrances]

Okay, I have to ask this. I get the point of doing DL, but I had already had a poop board built when I first read about this method and I knew it wasn't a good time to tell my DH that he needed to take it down. So...I've been doing a modified deep litter basically because I still scoop up the poop on the board daily and leave whatever is on the floor. Now I have 12 hens in a 8X10 coop with a 20X20 attached run, if I left all the poop on the floor, I'd be knee deep in poop by now. I remove a 20 lb. bag of poop each week off the board. I can't see that much poop decomposing that quick. Is my coop too small? Or am I really not understanding the DL method?

 

[Bulldogma]

OHHH and BDM...I know you will have a great hatch!!

Thanks, Delisha! I'm nervous about it, but excited too!

As you know I just got some of the Swedes.... How do you tell if your breeder/source is reputable? You know where mine came from and they were both recommended by many people.... but how do you know where their originals came from, etc. etc.....

I think finding folks like we've dealt w/here on BYC have been really good folks to deal with for sure! But I think I'd like to see some kind of standard too. I'm pretty excited about getting some so early in the game from import!

LM - Greenfire Farm is the first and only (so far) importer of SFH, so all American stock originates with them. It's just the intermediate folks we have to worry about. I'm going to be taking huge precautions to insure my own SFH hens are exposed ONLY to my SFH roo. If there are any questionable times, I'll be waiting a minimum of 3+ weeks before selling hatching eggs as "pure." Currently my only other roo is a bantam cochin, which would make crosses pretty obvious - LOL. In the next few weeks I may be adding Dark Cornish LF - I'm going to start rotating free ranging times for my different flocks to keep everyone separate.

 

[delisha]

You all are giving me great ideas. I have tons of litter I might need to spread. The brooder coop has DL too. I decided I am not going to DL my chicks from the brooder. I am going to try sand. Not sure it will work, but I am going to try it this year. I will use the *patch* of grass that I seen in Aoxia's brooder with the sand.
BTW I stole your picture and showed someone else how wonderful it was. I also stole chick pics and brooder pics too. I brag up this place and the quality of people here.

Questions for everyone with water fowl who DL. I usually toss in 3 bales of straw and one open bale of hay in the corner over the winter to make sure no frozen feet and greens at all times. Does all that straw ever break down if I were to leave it for longer? My DL in the duck pen is about 6 inches. It has never broken down for me but I never had it in there longer than 3 months.

I ditto the DL in pathways and runs. I am going to DL the duck brooder pen in the back. The hens like it because of no traffic, but, no sun either and it is packed down earth. I dumped my leaves there in a fall and all the old nesting material from the last hatch's. I love my ducks and lovve that they do not dirty nest boxes, but, hate it when the ducklings hatch. A nice clean nest does not stay clean for long. They are dirty lil buggers. I end up locking most out of boxes pretty early.

 

[jendodd79]

I think your coop may be just fine but the DL needs to be deep enough to make it work!

 

[Mumsy]

We just started our DL in November. Will we be able to use it for the garden this year? I also just started a compost at the same time, so I'm wondering if I'm not going to have anything ready to spread on the garden until next year.

I have a separate compost pile. I wouldn't dream of putting my DL in it. I fork my DL in the barn everyday even though the chickens turn it over. I have a small barn/coop. When I put the DL into the garden I see no poo. It was all composted into the DL. It does not smell at all like fresh manure. I have been gardening the same property for 25 years. I'm considered a master gardener and a horticulturist. I have no fear of my DL burning any plants. I don't put it on my blueberry beds or around any Rhododendrons or Azaleas or Hydrangeas. Those plants want acid-y high amendments. I put composted evergreen forest floor litter and coffee grounds on those. Never manure. My DL is already mostly broke down when I take it out of the barn. Not fresh. I put in out in the garden before planting and the rain can break it down further.

 

[delisha]

Mumsy,
What is considered fresh DL?
How long does it take to break down chicken poo?
Can you use DL that is just 4 months old in a garden?