Deep litter method

[aart]

not that I'm complaining but clearly not the ideal DLM going on here???

Depends on your goal.
Are you trying to make garden soil?
Or just keep the poop stink stay away?

 

[Harley Chick]

Depends on your goal.
Are you trying to make garden soil?
Or just keep the poop stink stay away?

Both!!!!!

 

[aart]

Both!!!!!

If you want garden soil you'll have to manage things more closely.
I only have successful experience in keeping the poops broken down.

 

[OlympicChick]

I would start adding in fresh grass and what not. The important thing will be to not add so much that the litter gets wet. Then it just becomes a breeding ground for coccidiosis.

 

[OlympicChick]

Does anyone have any experience with the ~$150 wood chippers like this?: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sun-Joe-14-Amp-Steel-Electric-Wood-Chipper/50193637

Would the chips it produces be appropriate for deep litter? Is it worth it?

 

[TLHloveschicks]

We use the deep litter method in our chiken coop. It saves quite a bit of work and it is very clean and efficient. First off we Clean our coop out once a year. Usually in the spring so we can use the litter in the garden. We shovel all the litter out, wash down the walls with a weak bleach solution and also spray this solution on the floor lightly.
We let the coop air out all day and in the evening add a 2 or 3 inch layer of wood shavings and paper shreddings. We
We have a droppings board underneath the roosts and we do clean this off every sunday whether it needs it or not. It always needs it. This fresh poo goes into the compost pile as it will burn plants if it is not rotted first. This only takes about 10 minutes or so and is no problem at all. At this time we also stir up the litter in the bottom of the coop, this helps to keep poo from accumulating around the feeder and helps to dry it out. Some people just throw scratch or corn in the coop and the chickens will stir it up for you. We then add a thin layer of shavings, paper shreds or hay. We keep this up every week and we end up with a 12 inch or so layer in the bottom of the coop to clean out next year.
As long as you make sure the poo is drying out there wont be a problem. We never have any issues with smells or ammonia build up.
I'm gonna go down and snap some photo's of the inside of the coop in the a.m. Stay tuned...

Chris

Thank you for posting this Chris very helpful!

 

[TLHloveschicks]

Thanks to all who posted on this deep litter method...wow I'm getting so much good information to put to use!

 

[Birdinhand]

just thought I'd give an update, I was given a bunch of potting soil last summer and I've been using it instead of wood chips. In my inner coop, the roost area is above ground with a plastic liner underneath. I added about 6 inches of the garden soil and the girls include that in their daily rotations of scratching and pecking and turn it over quite a bit, keeping it aerated. when I empty it, the mix goes into the composter for another round of breaking down and kapow, the soil that comes out as the final product is better than any fertilizer for the garden I can by. I have all but given up on wood chips as it seems they are hard for the girls to turn over unless I can find very small chips and let them "weather" for a year or so before incorporating them.

 

[Buffy18]

Hey so, my chickens (Two hens) are starting to sneeze cause I don’t have enough ventilation. Any tips. All are appreciated and they have been sneezing all their life and seem fine other than the slight weeze and cough?

 

[aart]

Hey so, my chickens (Two hens) are starting to sneeze cause I don’t have enough ventilation. Any tips. All are appreciated and they have been sneezing all their life and seem fine other than the slight weeze and cough?

Welcome to BYC @Buffy18 !
Start a new thread here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance.9/create-thread
With pics of your coop, inside and out....and add your location to your profile.