The deep litter method is the “lazy way” of raising chickens. If you’re using First Saturday Lime, sprinkle a layer of lime on your floor first, whether it be plywood, cement, laminate, or dirt. Talk about a win-win! I’m sure things are different now. Plus, by fall or early spring, your garden will have a nice supply of nutrient-rich compost. We're getting ready to get into the chicken business (small flock of about 8 - 10 hens)Wondering if you could use clay kitty litter scattered in the coop to control moisture. I am considering raising backyard chickens so I'm reading everything I see regarding that topic. Deep litter method is based on allowing the coop and other forms of litter to grow with the passage of time. We had to learn all about chicken food, litter, and cold protection in the winter. Your idea sounds very good to me but since I haven’t been around chickens coops in years. Already a Member? It also gives you some excellent compost for your garden or flower beds the following year! Raising Turkeys For a Natural, Self-Sufficient Lifestyle, Raising Chickens For A Natural, Self-Sufficient Lifestyle, So Much More Than Grass - Self Reliant Landscaping, Copyright © 2020 Homegrown Self Reliance Powered by Homegrown Self Reliance. I get more compacted mud and poop with Hay and the chickens but if there s a better method to not having to clean the coop all by myself every two weeks I am down for this. Each time you aerate the substrate, you help the poop and chicken feed break down. Thanks Betty, glad you found it valuable! Will the top few inches need to be set aside as it is “fresher”, unaged? It means less coop cleaning, a healthier flock, a warmer flock through Winter and a rich garden compost for Spring! 1,903 Posts . The chickens add manure, which they shred as they scratch around, it eventually disappears into the bedding. Hay can get very dusty and will also get very heavy when wet. Please let me know in the comments if you have any other labor-saving tricks! Pine shavings will get too wet if in an open area to properly start the decomposition process. Benefits of deep litter Works great. Best Litter Type. Too much pile up and an ammonia smell can develop and the chickens are more susceptible to disease, respiratory issues etc. The deep litter system is a low maintenance method where you only clean out your coop once a year. The deep litter method is a chicken coop system based on repeated layering of organic materials on the floor. So how do you begin using the deep litter method? We use the deep litter method in our chiken coop. The Deep Litter method is essentially composting in place. How do I know what I can use now for compost? I’m planning on trying sand at some point, since our run gets pretty mucky. The finer the high-carbon material, the faster it will begin composting. This continues as needed to keep the chickens on clean bedding. Although we used pine shavings, I had thought about using straw when I run out of shavings. In my experiences, the best litter for deep litter method coops is pine shavings by far, but let’s talk some pros and cons of the other options. If you’ve had the deep litter in with your chickens for about 6 months (as recommended), you should have about that. To begin, start with a clean coop. Sort by reaction score Thread starter Crax; Start date Nov 6, 2020; 1; 2; Next. Straw is definitely not a good choice for deep litter. You can just do a quick hot composting and have it ready to go. If some of the fresher manure hasn’t thoroughly decomposed, simply add it to another compost pile. There are a few potential options for litter in chicken coops including hay, straw, sand, pine pellets, and pine shavings. Thank you. The Deep Litter Method is a way of caring for one's coop using a deep layer of, for example, wood chips, which cuts down on cleaning while still giving your hens (and roosters, if you have them) a healthy place to live. I didn’t have chickens when I was young, just got around to getting them a couple years ago. I’ve heard about the “deep litter” method for raising chickens. It will have time to rot more all winter. Fall or early spring is a good time to clean out the coop — but don’t remove all of the litter, advises poultry expert Harvey Ussery in The Small-Scale Poultry Flock. Is awesome because it just makes sense bed allowing you to save money and trees subscribing. Around to getting them a couple years ago we had heavy rain and the DLM effectively break! T been around chickens coops in years another thin layer of litter is used to prompt the start the... Starting with a heavy ammonia odor I already put bird manure in the fall and once the. 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