Deep litter method

[chickenranchwife]

I do have pictures but not sure how to download them on here. It's not the prettiest thing compared to one's that I've seen on here but it works. I didn't take a pic of the yard they get to play in. I need to build another one so that the grass can grow back up when it gets warmer. If anyone has any ideas on how to get pics on here let me know please. I'll try to find some gravel for the waterer areas. Last summer when we built our fence it was so dry that it was hard to dig. We got about 1/4" of rain lastnight and a nice wet snow this afternoon. I built a new roost yesterday that I am pretty proud of, and my hubby didn't help me at all as he's been busy getting ready for calving. Thanks

 

[annp]

I've only had chickens for a year, so my experience is limited, but I'm an immediate fan of the deep litter method.

My 8x8 house rarely smells (with five hens), and with spring coming, I'm thrilled with the way the litter is looking. My litter is very dry and I'm more worried about dust than wetness. (In fact, I frequently water the litter to keep the dust down.) I keep my waterer on an old plastic milk crate. It's the perfect height and it's very stable on top of the deep litter. I hang my feeder from the ceiling.

I've read that a fly predator lives in deep litter and keeps the fly population down and I've also read that deep litter provides the birds with, I believe, Vitamin B.

(I'm having a terrible time typing in this little tiny box. Am I doing something wrong or is that the way it works here?)

 

[mudhen]

Awesome. I've been reading past posts on this method for several weeks now and before my girls go out (and I can reclaim my sunroom) I am going to set it up this way.
I suppose these past years I have been doing a similar thing, but only with straw. Shavings and a mix of all that is suggested here is going to work out better.
Thank you again to all of you for this great information!

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Is anybody interested in writing an article on the Deep Litter Method that I can post on BYC? i.e., what it is, why it is good, how to do it, hints & tips?

This question seems to come up a lot, so it would be great to simply point people to an article on BYC.

If you are interested, please shoot me an email: nifty@ backyardchickens.com

 

[Marion]

Does anyone have a photo or two of what the deep litter looks like at different times during the process? I was reading today that it is accepted practice now days to take the litter from broiler houses (the big businesses) and compost it then sell it for use as beef cattle feed

. Seems they banned the practice in 2003 in the USA until the "mad cow" scare was over and removed that ban as of October 2005. I swear I am going to be a vegetarian if I keep learning about the ways our food supply is obtained!!

 

[Servant]

I have been doing this with out knowing my house is a 8 by 10 it is a medal building and on 4 by 4's I have put the pine wood shaves in it 4 inches deep. I clean it about 6 times a year, Which maybe more then I need to. I have a hanging feeder inside for the laying hens and there water is out side in the pens to keep moistier down in the house. I have been using lime outside to keep the smell down. and keep some liter in the peep pen to. This has worked for me great. After all I have over 100 chickens and live in a trailer park. Yes it true you must be a red neck to have a farm in a tralier park. But the land lords does not mind because I have been able to keep the smell way down. This year has been good I have started selling full grown Chickens and peeps, long with eggs! I'm disablied so have try for keep smell down with the least work. This has worked Great for me I use pine sol once a year to clean out house good. But you would not really know I had Chickens! But for my breeding Roasters in the morning.

I have 10 diffrent breeds and still getting more breeds. Hope to be moving soon. But not looking forward to moving all my pens. God Bless all!

 

[BigMama]

Hi Everyone! My family and I are going to start raising chicks for eggs and eating. After reading all the information on deep littering I think this is going to be the way we go. I do have a couple of questions: What is DE that is added to the litter? What age do the chicks need to be before using the deep litter method? (I had read somewhere else that the chicks may confuse the wood shavings with feed and starve themselves?) Right now we are in the process of remodeling an old pump house into our chicken coop. My husband plans on using home sawed lumber as the base for the floor, then using a layer of pink foam insulation and finishing with 2x4's. We will use an old wire corn crib attached for an outside pen. Any advise will be appreciated!

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but just had a quick question about this method also (since hubby and I are debating).

How's the fly population? From what I read this method seems to be the way to go, and I guess I understand how it keeps smell down, but really worried that there will be horrid flies. And this stuff in the litter that kills them... am I going to see creepy crawlies in there, or is it more bacterial?

Love all the info on this post!

 

[Wes in Tx]

Queen I feed my birds DE mixed in their feed. When they poop the DE passes through with the poop and when dry kills any fly larva that hatches out in the poop so lessoning the amount of flyes. I also mix in DE with my litter from time to time if I think there are to many flys around.

 

[crystal]

I'm curious about this method. We'll be using 10'x16' chain link dog run for my 3 chicks and 2 rabbits. We live in suburbia and the run is set up pretty close to our neighbor's property. Does the litter smell? Our last flock (napped by coons last year) were free range, but this time around we'll be confining the chickens and rabbits unless we're outside. From what I've been reading so far, you need to keep the litter very dry. How do you do that during the winter months? And do people have problems with rats making homes in the straw/pine shavings? I'm very intrigued by this method...