Best kind of deep litter materials?

[Lillith37]

Hello everyone,

My chickens free range in my backyard which is about 275 square meters / 330 square yards.

Unfortunately the soil is contaminated with lead. Most of the yard is covered in grass, but there are exposed sections along the house and fences where the chickens have their dust baths.

My lease has been extended so I am planning to remediate the exposed areas by:

1. Laying geotextile to separate the soil.
2. Laying shadecloth to protect the geotextile from chicken claws.
3. Building deep litter on top.

The soil contains a lot of clay. Some parts of the yard turn into a marsh when it rains a lot and then it all dries out and cracks.

The remediated areas will flow into the grassed areas so I’m thinking maybe I need some rocks or logs at the edges to stop the deep litter from being scratched out everywhere and exposing the edges of the cloth which could then be scratched up/under.

I’m wondering what the best deep litter materials would be for this project?

Currently I’m thinking of getting a trailer load of soil to replace the dust baths, and I’ve also found a lady who has free pine mulch available.

I have access to things like pine shavings and straw bales. We also have grass clippings when we mow the lawns and dead leaves from the tree in the front yard.

Any advice is welcome and appreciated. Thank you

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not sure what to advise as far as the lead issue or if covering the ground the way you described will work well (especially since it sounds like you have drainage issues, so adding/addressing drainage first may be necessary), so I'll strictly address the deep litter materials.

The clean soil, mulch, straw, clippings, leaves are all good to mix in. Ideally you want a mix of material types and sizes to allow for drainage, aeration and composting. Personally not keen on shavings myself as I find them to get waterlogged easily and then not dry out, but it still may be ok in moderation.

 

[Lillith37]

Not sure what to advise as far as the lead issue or if covering the ground the way you described will work well (especially since it sounds like you have drainage issues, so adding/addressing drainage first may be necessary), so I'll strictly address the deep litter materials.

The clean soil, mulch, straw, clippings, leaves are all good to mix in. Ideally you want a mix of material types and sizes to allow for drainage, aeration and composting. Personally not keen on shavings myself as I find them to get waterlogged easily and then not dry out, but it still may be ok in moderation.

Thanks for your reply! And thanks for the tip about the shavings.

The drainage is a huge issue but not one that is within my scope to fix... Luckily where I have to remediate the soil there are only one or two really bad patches where the water doesn’t drain. The geotextile lets the water through but doesn’t let the soil particles through.

 

[Penpal]

Since you are going to move at some point, I would use 16 x 16 pavers in the areas you wish to cover. Smaller in the smaller ones. When the birds walk over the pavers it will trim their nails a little. I think the chickens will otherwise dig up what you lay down.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The drainage is a huge issue but not one that is within my scope to fix... Luckily where I have to remediate the soil there are only one or two really bad patches where the water doesn’t drain. The geotextile lets the water through but doesn’t let the soil particles through.

Might want to see about building the litter up (specifically with mulch) a couple inches higher than ground level then, to try and minimize any drainage issues. It won't get rid of any pooling water, but at that point you'd just be trying to get a layer that's surface dry on top to walk on.

 

[Lillith37]

Since you are going to move at some point, I would use 16 x 16 pavers in the areas you wish to cover. Smaller in the smaller ones. When the birds walk over the pavers it will trim their nails a little. I think the chickens will otherwise dig up what you lay down.

It’s a good idea and might be viable for some areas of exposed soil but unfortunately most of the ground is not level.

 

[Lillith37]

Might want to see about building the litter up (specifically with mulch) a couple inches higher than ground level then, to try and minimize any drainage issues. It won't get rid of any pooling water, but at that point you'd just be trying to get a layer that's surface dry on top to walk on.

Yeah I think this is my plan. And not just for drainage but so the chooks are less likely to dig down to the material beneath. I have some that are more industrious diggers than others. Apparently it’s going to be an El Niño summer so the wet shouldn’t be as much of an issue moving forward.