# Deep litter method, Yea or nay?



## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

My plan was to do deep litter in the winter, switch to sand in the summer for the coop itself. I am using straw now, every so often I have been stirring it up, and adding more straw and PDZ. I stick my head inside and if it smells "ammonia-ey" then add more straw stir it up etc. However, the way Ian constructed the coop it would be just as easy, to just empty the bedding and replace. What is better for the birds? I have heard that deep litter adds heat and insulation for them in cold weather, is it that beneficial?


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

I don't think it will compost properly in the winter.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I didn't do the deep litter method at all. And I found straw to not be very effective as bedding. The one time I tried it (couldn't find pine shavings any where) my birds' feet stayed dirty because the straw was not absorbent. I suspect that lack of absorption is why the stall dry isn't working for you. 

The idea behind it is to help keep the bedding generating warmth as it composted in the coop. Considering I didn't live some where my birds needed the extra warmth, it was easier on my back to not do the deep litter.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I dont do deep litter neither. It is a breeding ground for capillary worms and fungal/mold issues especially here in the south.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

dawg53 said:


> I dont do deep litter neither. It is a breeding ground for capillary worms and fungal/mold issues especially here in the south.


I haven't noticed a big mess with their feet, but the run is river sand so that may help. So what would be best if I don't use straw, I didn't like the pine shavings when I had them in the crate, but then they had food and water in there and they don't in the hen house part now, so It may work better. Most of the time it smells like plain old straw. My grandaddy's barn lol. I have only had to do that about 3 times and they have been in I'd say about 6 weeks now.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

I would like to try this Korean method.Their DLM seems to be a little more involved.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I used to buy a bale or two of hay from the feed store and spread it out inside the coop. It wasnt as easy to pick up poop as it was with pine shavings, but the hay served it's purpose as an insulator. Below is the only pic I have of hay inside the coop. This was the largest coop I had ever built, 8'W x 16'L. It had a trap door in the rear to rake out the hay from that end. You can also see the fan at the rear of the coop.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/BIO-9.pdf

How to Cultivate Indigenous Microorganisms


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Very interesting Nm, If I had a large scale operation I may consider that. My little 8 hen coop, like you said a little too involved lol. Plus coop needs to be on the ground and mine is elevated waist height.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You actually mentioned the smell of ammonia in the first post. I can leave my birds on the same shavings for months and just toss in some stall dry and have things smelling just fine, even if I was to get down to their level to check the odor.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Dawg, it's too late for me now but that idea of having a shovel shoot would have been awesome for me. As it was, I would park the tractor just outside of the coop, fill a muck bucket then dump that in to the tractor bucket.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

robin416 said:


> You actually mentioned the smell of ammonia in the first post. I can leave my birds on the same shavings for months and just toss in some stall dry and have things smelling just fine, even if I was to get down to their level to check the odor.


Yeah I did, everything I had read about DLM was that was when you knew to add more bedding. It was never overwhelming, though like I said maybe 2-3 times. With all the stirring and flipping though it would be just as easy to rake it dump it on the compost pile and replace. I just wondered if there was a benefit to doing it that way.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I tried it one time and it was nasty! I use sand. I did put hay under the roost today for a little warmth but I'll take it out when it dries out in the run a little.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Another big problem I am having with it is that they scratch all the straw out of the coop into the run. Raking that out has been a little aggravating. So now to decide to switch to either pine shavings or sand. And to have a pretty day to actually do it lol


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Put a board across the opening for the door. I'll see if I can find a good pic of mine. In the Silkie coop it was a 2X4 laying flat, in the Dutch coop it was a 1X4 upright. Or maybe it was a 1X3.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I forgot that I added a one by four to the top of the two by four.








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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

robin416 said:


> Put a board across the opening for the door. I'll see if I can find a good pic of mine. In the Silkie coop it was a 2X4 laying flat, in the Dutch coop it was a 1X4 upright. Or maybe it was a 1X3.


Will probably need to do that no matter which way I go, will probably try pine shavings again first  Thanks for all the advice!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I'm not one that believes in deep litter method. Tried it with my horse and it was awful. Come spring it took me all day to clean everything out. With chickens, I won't do it because I don't want to remove that much all in one time. The other reason is Aspergillosis, a fungal that's inhaled and it the chicken is affected there's only one really expensive cure . 

What I used to do with the horse "a little different" and now the chickens is take the really soiled shavings out, (1/3 of my coop), push the much less soiled shavings under the roost, and add fresh. I cut down on a lot of shavings this way and, and there's not a good reason to use lightly soiled shavings under the roof.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Yay Robin for posting a picture! love it!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Robin, Love the roo!


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## Wyandotter (Dec 13, 2015)

What is the deep litter method exactly, I've heard of it before but I don't know what it is.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Basically you only clean out your coop once a year but during that year you keep adding bedding. So, in the end you've got a back breaking job to do if your coop is large.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Wyandotter said:


> What is the deep litter method exactly, I've heard of it before but I don't know what it is.


The theory is you keep adding carbon (bedding, leaves, pine needles etc) to offset the nitrogen in the poop, over the season it breaks down into compost ready to go on the garden. Supposedly this also generates heat for your birds etc. You have to watch out an make sure you have adequate ventilation though because fumes can cause respiratory problems. I started with it thinking that it would be easier for me to maintain, since I have a relatively small set up. About every other week or so I have been flipping the bedding and adding pdz, and have been ok with it, but honestly we don't garden, and with the energy I spent doing that I could just replace the bedding with no more work. so planning on changing it over once the weather clears.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Just about every winter in NY, there was a heavy freeze where it was impossible to clean up horse manure in the paddocks. So figure 50 pounds per horse per day times all the days it was too frozen to pick up. Took us 2 days. Then there was the pile from the stalls that had to be removed as well. So I think my deep litter method is weekly removal of poop under the perch, flip the semi clean shavings over from the other side of the coop, and add new to the bare side. Just move things along.


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