I am with Gonehencrazy. I love the concept of the deep litter method. But, I just don't really understand how to get it started. Is there a better time of year to start (winter/summer)?
Spring/summer so the bacteria and other microbes are most active and you have fresh greens like lawn clippings to feed it...
We have 4 adult hens and 11 young ones to be added soon. In the process of building new coop 8x8. I plan on having a poop catch under the roost. Is 15 hens too many to do the deep litter method?
If you catch and dispose of overnight poop, deep litter should work for day poop especially if they are let out in a run daily...
Is there a good article or place to go to that really explains how to get started with the deep litter method that a newbie can understand?
There are lots of tutorials around, but as you might have found they vary all over the place...
First you coop has to have the depth to hold the deep liter, not all coops will... The doors in my coop are all raised 12" above the floor so there is a skirt all around to hold the litter...
Here is what I would suggest, layer up wood chips, straw, grass clippings, weeds, leaves and other organic greens in your coop to a depth of 18", if you have an outdoor compost pile take a shovel full of that compost and mix it in, if not just take a shovel of some decent natural soil (preferably in a wooded area vs your lawn) and mix this in... This shovel full will give you a booster seeding of the bacteria and microbes, it's not necessary as the bacteria and microbes will find there way, but it certainly won't hurt, the chickens should immediately compact that bedding down to much less, keep adding new bedding until you maintain at least 12"... I know many people claim 6" is enough and I personally don't believe so unless it's sitting on a dirt floor that becomes part of the deep liter in the end...
After that keep an eye on it, if you see poop caking up, either remove it or break it up and mix it back in yourself, but hopefully your chickens will do that for you... Keep an eye on smell, it might ramp up for a day or two but within a week there should be no poop smell to the litter, it should smell like compost or soil... Keep adding more greens like lawn clippings and leaves to maintain the depth... You can also mix in more straw and/or wood chips once you notice most of the originals have decomposed...
After 6 months to a year (most people switch out in the fall when leaves are plenty) you can remove up to about 75% of the litter and use in for fertilizer, always leave some behind to once again seed the new litter... I'm going on 2 years now and I personally have not removed any litter as it's still kicking just fine, but I have a huge coop so what works for me might not work for others...
Also be careful, don't dump in soaking wet grass clippings or leaves, you don't want the litter to clump... The end result if working properly as seen in my pictures feels and smells basically just like fresh organic potting soil straight out of a new bag...
Be aware it's not hot composted so most people don't recommend direct application around your garden, and this is again why most people do the clean out in the fall, this allows them to spread the compost in the garden after the season and sit for another 3-4 months over winter breaking down even further...