Who DOESN'T use the deep litter method?

[Kansaseq]

I put a bale of shavings in each coop, and clean them totally out every couple of months. Just depends on how dirty they are. I couldn't go a whole year.

 

[accio! chickens]

me. cause it's gross. we clean out every few weeks.

 

[Beekissed]

Years ago I used the DLM when I had chickens under rabbits and this worked out fine...but I got free wood shavings back then~all I wanted. So, for years after I moved, I didn't use the DLM and just raked out the coop every other day. As my chickens free range, the only feces is under the roosts and this was easy to rake out.

Lately, though, I wanted to try the DLM again so that I could use the material on my gardens. I had forgotten how lovely it smells to have fresh pine shavings in the coop and I think I'll be doing it from now on.

Bugs are a good thing, folks....chickens EAT bugs!

If you want to keep your shavings stirred up, use the bigger shavings they sell at SS and just throw a handful or two of BOSS into them every other day. The chickens will do the rest!

They will keep your litter fluffed and dry and will work the poop into smaller pieces so that it blends with the shavings.

I put a couple of handsful of cedar shavings in the mix to make it really smell good~not enough to cause any respiratory distress but it does smell good!

I use the same technique in my sheep pen....I throw a handful or so of BOSS in their shavings also and let the chickens turn the bedding for me.

Less work for me, more fun for the chickens!

 

[Mahonri]

We sweep and mop the coop each week.

After it's mopped, a dusting of DE all over the floor, then a light layer of pine shavings.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
Sure it will. Concrete is permeable to moisture and will help keep the moisture level in the litter up, much like a dirt floor, but without critters burrowing up through it.

I'm not saying deep litter won't work on a raised floor, but dry and dusty can be just as problematic as too wet and blowing off ammonia. Deep litter should be maintained in a slightly moist state and should be more like compost in the bottom layers, with fresher layers on top. Little bugs in the litter aren't necessarily bad, it just depends upon the kind of bugs. Many are beneficial predators that can keep mites and flies at bay. I see lots of pseudoscorpions when I am moving stuff around in the layer barn. They eat mites and fly larvae and are harmless otherwise.

 

[chickenwhisperer123]

Quote:
Usually the biggest problem with small coops is that it gets too dry and dusty. But then again, my experience was in Texas where it was pretty low humidity, I would add moisture with a hose and stir it in. Deep litter is supposed to be microbially alive, with a slow aerobic decomposition. That's hard to do unless you have a dirt floor where it can pull moisture from the ground.

I water the ducks in the coop, and they arent the cleanest or the most efficient drinkers. Thats what makes me think it would get gross.

 

[Bantimna]

I don't yet have chickens but, I don't think it's to neat and hygienic so I wouldn't do it and I am like twister a neat freak.

 

[al6517]

I am not a fan of the DLM to me it seems like a waste, I like to keep things fairley clean and am spending time there everyday, so working on the pen's is a dailey deal. I use seeded wheat straw hay and that is what works for me.

AL

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
???

A waste of what?

 

[bills]

The addition of DE as suggested really does help. The dropping board is also a great way to keep the coop floor cleaner, longer.

For some reason I always find one area of the coop floor gets dirtier than other areas. I remove the shavings from that area, every 6 weeks, rake the clean shavings over that area, and add new shavings. Usually need 1/3 to 1/2 bag of shavings.

I notice the price of a shaving bale is constantly going up!