Topic of the Week - Coop Bedding and Waste Management; Deep Litter Method etc.

[FlyingNunFarm]

I just lift up one end, wheel the coop/yard 10 feet and give them new fresh ground daily. There are two trays/sleds with rope pulls that are slid under the roost at night to collect fertilizer for my wife's vegetable garden. The poop falls thru a 1 inch X 2 inch wire screen floor to collect in the 2 trays laying side-by-side on the ground below. Every week or so, Gina grabs the tray's rope pulls and sleds them to the garden to empty. And during the day, what they drop in the yard on a new piece of ground each day fertilizes the lawn...

This is genius! Unfortunately would not work in 2 foot of snow. LOL Would be so nice to not have chicken killed lawn. I have a sort of movable area but nothing this easy!

 

[iosRANDALL]

Chicken killed lawn with 2 foot of snow!?! :-D Now there be some mighty hungry birds to be venturin' out into snow that deep!

We had a 16-inch snow 4 Christmases ago. I hadn't built the coop at that point but if we had had it then it wouldn't have moved for a couple of weeks. Nor do I move it after a long spell of rain. It's a heavy coop and the tires tend to sink into the wet saturated ground if I try to move it then. On those rare occasions when the coop has to sit for more than a day, we open the doors and let them free range, hoping there's no roaming chicken-killing dogs or other chicken-killing critters come along during those times.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

@iosRANDALL
I would not be able to move it for months at a time. They refuse to go out in more then 2 inches of snow.

In the summer they kill the grass. I have a permanent enclosed section that nothing but weeds will grow in.

 

[Jeejay]

When hubby built new coop few months ago we discussed at length how we would manage the problem of keeping it clean. We have five chickens free range. Hubby built a staircase type roost that is hinged to wall and the floor is wood with vinyl laid on top.
Every morning I lift up roost which is them attached to wall, scrape up poop and any poop I can see outside. I then get bucket filled with water and disinfectant and with string mop, mop out the inside coop. The chickens are so used to me doing this that they are quite happy with me doing this if they are nesting. Every week I spray the roost and all round with Yates Maverick Spray.
This gives us a nice clean smelling coop with no mite problem. It works for us.

 

[tsisqua]

- Bedding in the coop: What do you use?

I use coastal hay.

- How deep do you let it get?

7 to 8 inches in the run; 3 - 5 inches in the hen house.

- How often do you clean it out?

The hen house is cleaned once per week; the run is turned every couple of days and replaced about once a month.

- What is your coop floor? (Earth, wood, protected wood.)

Hen house has wood/sheet metal floor; run has dirt floor.

- Do you use a poop board or something similar? If "yes", tell us more?

No.

- Anyone use the deep litter method? Tell us about your experience?

No.

- What products, beside bedding materials, do you use to keep smells/moisture under control? (For example lime, sweet PDZ)

I only use DE - It the litter really smells, it needs to be replaced.

 

[Jody17]

I keep a 1-2" layer of flax bedding sprinkled with Stall Dry on the vinyl floor. Beneath the roost is a long tray with sand and Stall Dry to collect the overnight poop. Each morning I scoop the poop out of the tray with a cat litter scoop - rarely is there poop on the coop floor (my chickens spend the majority of their time outside - even in -15C temps). Any poop in the flax dries out and gets scooped out as well, each morning, and tossed into the compost. Flax bedding contains small, soft particles that sift easily through a cat litter scoop - it's beautiful stuff!

 

[mirsy09]

I use about 5" of pine shavings in their coop and laying boxes. But out in their run, I use peat moss to soak up moisture from driving rain or snow. My son cleans it out every couple of weeks.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I use about 5" of pine shavings in their coop and laying boxes. But out in their run, I use peat moss to soak up moisture from driving rain or snow. My son cleans it out every couple of weeks. 

Does the peat moss soak up water and stay dry-ish? Do you clean it out of the run or just add more as the ground gets soggy? I have a horrible mud problem but was worried I'd end up with more mud not less.

 

[Beekissed]

I just lift up one end, wheel the coop/yard 10 feet and give them new fresh ground daily. There are two trays/sleds with rope pulls that are slid under the roost at night to collect fertilizer for my wife's vegetable garden. The poop falls thru a 1 inch X 2 inch wire screen floor to collect in the 2 trays laying side-by-side on the ground below. Every week or so, Gina grabs the tray's rope pulls and sleds them to the garden to empty. And during the day, what they drop in the yard on a new piece of ground each day fertilizes the lawn...

This is truly the very best movable coop system I've ever seen! Kudos on this design and if you haven't posted it already, your coop and plans should feature BIG on the coop page. It's genius!!!

 

[pdxevergreen]

I agree that it can get messier and smellier in the winter...but if you stay on top of it I don't think chickens really smell that bad.

Straw

5 inches

Clean it every 3 months.

Dirt.