What to add to thawing damp deep litter?

[taprock]

It has warmed above freezing this week and my deep litter is disgusting! Very damp and smelly. It is going to freeze up again in a couple days but what can I add now?

 

[foxinachickenhouse]

I use stall dry or sweet pdz. There is another one too but I can't remember the name.

 

[patandchickens]

Honestly you'd be best off just removing it, and starting afresh.

If you insist on just adding something to it to wait until *next* thaw to do a total cleanout, though, I would suggest getting a bag of some kind of stall powder from your local feedstore (Stall-Dri, Stable Boy, Sweet PDZ) and chuck a certain amount of that in there, turning or raking it in somewhat so it isn't just loose dust.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I'd do what Pat suggests and just clean it out, if it's that bad. If you can't do it all at once, clear some out every night for a couple of nights. Sometimes these things happen at times that aren't all that convenient.

If you decide to wait, in addition to stall additives, I'd add more shavings. As bad as you describe, probably a lot more shavings and stir it all in.

It is hard to gauge how your litter management is going in a freezing coop, especially the first winter. Everything freezes as you go, so you can't tell if you're adding the right amount of shavings or not. Then you get a big thaw and find out you didn't add enough shavings and it's too wet and stinky. For next winter, now you know that you need to increase the amount of shavings you're adding to the coop as maintenance. You may need to be adding more at one time or the same amount more often, depending on how you decided to manage your deep litter. I didn't manage my deep litter perfectly the first winter, either. I did a lot better the second winter.