Walk me through deep litter in covered run

[DSJMHenDen]

My run is covered with an elevated coop. It obviously became dirt shortly after our girls spent time in there. I was slowly adding sand here and there thinking I would go the sand route. I ended up adding an additional run area that is not covered, but connected by a tunnel. In that area I just threw some wood chips down, and they spend far more time in there scratching around. Going into winter, where we can sometimes get heavy snow, I'm worried the tunnel may get snowed in, cutting off access to the deep litter style run area. They don't free range, so I want them to be able to "chicken" as much as possible even in the winter. I see lots about deep litter in the coop, but I'm pretty happy with my pdz in there, and don't plan to switch. Any deep litter run only advice? How often should I wet down the run to keep it composting? Do you just leave it in winter so it's not freezing? Anyone do deep litter in run and then totally regret it? Insight appreciated!

 

[RoyalChick]

No regrets. I too have a covered area and some uncovered areas in the run. I don't have a tunnel so that isn't an issue, but the uncovered areas (they are covered in hardware cloth) do sometimes get quite covered in snow.
What I find is that the center of the covered area stays dry. It breaks down but I wouldn't call it compost. I am not very diligent about it but when I clean out water I dump water onto the ground. Don't do much more than that honestly.
What I do find is that the 'edges' compost down quite well. They get more wet from drifting snow and driving rain. Not a lot, but enough it seems to form compost and worms come up from underneath (much to the delight of my flock).
I also tip in old leaves and that gets them the chance to chicken quite happily for hours. I know many people keep bags of leaves dry in the garage - but I don't because I figure a bit more moisture in the covered run is a good thing - so I just have a big heap and when I can access it I gather bags and tip them into the run.
Hope that helps.

 

[DSJMHenDen]

That is very helpful! Even the part about the leaves, as my 2 trees will dump them here in about a month. I'm having anxiety about where all of the poop is going to go after scooping every 1 to 2 days for months

 

[Ted Brown]

... I see lots about deep litter in the coop, but I'm pretty happy with my pdz in there, and don't plan to switch.

Very few folks attempt "deep litter" in a coop, those who do typically have a dirt floor in their coop.

Deep litter method (DLM) is most often used in runs.

Deep bedding is meant to be used in coops; most use pine shavings as the bedding. The use of PDZ is most often used on drop boards positioned under the roosts; recommended that waste on the drop boards is cleared frequently to a compost heap.