Prebuilt coop for deep litter method

[miahpage]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a premade coop that uses the deep litter method? Most of the prebuilt coops that I see with enough space for the deep litter method either have a shallow pull out pan or are are a huge coop run combo (carolina coops for example). I currently have a very secure run for my 5 chickens but my coop is too small and there's not enough space for the deep litter method.

I'm not opposed to building my own coop per say, but a lot of the plans that I see aren't appropriate for the deep litter method either.

 

[DobieLover]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a premade coop that uses the deep litter method? Most of the prebuilt coops that I see with enough space for the deep litter method either have a shallow pull out pan or are are a huge coop run combo (carolina coops for example). I currently have a very secure run for my 5 chickens but my coop is too small and there's not enough space for the deep litter method.

I'm not opposed to building my own coop per say, but a lot of the plans that I see aren't appropriate for the deep litter method either.

Why do you want to use the DLM? It really works best with earthen floored coops.
Have you considered installing poop boards instead?

 

[aart]

I currently have a very secure run for my 5 chickens but my coop is too small and there's not enough space for the deep litter method.

Why not do the deep litter in your run?

'Deep litter' is often misunderstood and can have many iterations.
Knowing why you want to do DL and what your end goals are can help us help you.

Oh, and.... Welcome to BYC! @miahpage
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[miahpage]

Thanks for the suggestion about location. I updated my profile. I'm in Northern Nevada near Reno.

I'm currently using the DLM for my run and it's working great. I started with a really cheap small coop from the TSC and I only ordered three chickens. Well low and behold 5 chickens showed up in my order. I then built a really nice secure 7' x 8' run using a fast framer kit and attached the cheap TSC coop to the side of the run. Now that my chickens are getting larger the cheap TSC coop is getting tight.

I want to use it the DLM for the ease of cleaning and maintenance inside the coop itself. I see many people using the DLM in coops without an earthen floor and it seems to work great. Poop boards are going to require weekly maintenance, so if I'm going to go that route then I might as well just use a shallow pan and continue to replace the litter weekly. I could see poop boards being beneficial with a huge flock but I'd like the more set and forget DLM inside the coop.

 

[miahpage]

Honestly, I expect that I'll have to build my own coop, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing options that are out there.

 

[DobieLover]

Honestly, I expect that I'll have to build my own coop, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing options that are out there.

If you have that many birds in one of those little pre-fabs, I would definitely recommend building a new coop. And I would go walk-in style. You can convert a small shed and have a decent size in it for storage as well.
There are more advantages to the poop boards than just keeping the poop off the coop floor litter. By using them, you can very easily examine the nightly load as you scoop the poop out and can spot trouble early on. I've saved two of my birds that were in trouble by examining the poop and seeing issues.
You can also see when they drop roundworms or tapeworm segments. And it's easier to grab group samples for fecals.
I can't NOT clean my boards every morning. I'm a poop scooping addict!

 

[aart]

I want to use it the DLM for the ease of cleaning and maintenance inside the coop itself. I see many people using the DLM in coops without an earthen floor and it seems to work great.

DLM is not a 'cure all' for infrequent maintenance.
The terms 'deep litter' and 'deep bedding' are often misunderstood and misapplied.
I've always liked this explanation:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-method-with-this-coop.1075545/#post-16440037



What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.

-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.

-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 5 years.

 

[miahpage]

DLM is not a 'cure all' for infrequent maintenance.
The terms 'deep litter' and 'deep bedding' are often misunderstood and misapplied.
I've always liked this explanation:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-method-with-this-coop.1075545/#post-16440037

Thanks for this explanation. I envision using a deep bedding method.

- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.

This is exactly how I've been treating my run and it's been working great.

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.

-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

My vision was to do something similar to what you're doing except for a few changes. I was going to skip using the poop boards with the expectation that I'll change out the pine shavings more frequently than you. My goal was to only have to change out the shavings every 3 - 4 months. I figured that if I kept the size of my flock constant (fight the chicken math) the size of the coop would determine how frequently the shavings would need to be changed.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I want to use it the DLM for the ease of cleaning and maintenance inside the coop itself. I see many people using the DLM in coops without an earthen floor and it seems to work great. Poop boards are going to require weekly maintenance, so if I'm going to go that route then I might as well just use a shallow pan and continue to replace the litter weekly. I could see poop boards being beneficial with a huge flock but I'd like the more set and forget DLM inside the coop.

As explained above, deep litter and deep bedding are often confused. Very few people do deep litter inside the coop as that favors a dirt floor - a true deep litter is a composting system.

I use deep bedding, about 4" thick of wood chips. I clean out twice a year which is simply raking the old chips into the run, and putting in new chips. That's about as simple as it gets, though I still do daily maintenance (I have no poop boards so I use a pooper scooper to clean up under the roosts in the morning. Poop goes into compost for the garden.)

A shed is honestly the only "prebuilt" I can recommend as far as coops go. Rarely see a prefab coop with enough sq footage or clearance to build up enough bedding to even do deep bedding.

 

[miahpage]

I guess I need to start looking at some designs for a simple chicken coop that allows for deep bedding, but doesn't have a run. I'm not going to get more birds and I already have a 7x8 secured run. Any suggestions on a coop for 5 birds without a run?