# Deep litter ???



## shanedavis (Feb 26, 2013)

Hey folks ... I'm new to the chicken world. Didn't work out to start chicken farming this year ... Gonna start next spring. But first I have to get the coop built and squared away. 

I'm sure it has been discussed and I've found some threads on the deep litter method ... But have never found a 1,2,3 step by step explanation of the process. Is it basically just a compost pile inside the coop? Are you maintaining a 10 to 12 inch base of grass clipping wood shaving leaf "stuff" ... 

I live in western Alberta so the winters are extreme ... Deep litter requires a lot of air flow or at least it should if it is an inside compost pile ... Is that much air flow gonna freeze my birds??

Any thoughts or ideas? If I've missed a thread please point me in the right direction ...

Thanks, SD


----------



## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

It won't. It will create a convection of warm air from the litter up past your birds on the roost and sweep their humidity out the top of the coop along the way. That deep litter serves two purposes at that point...it insulates your coop floor and gives the birds some warm, dry footing and it warms them as that convection takes place. 

As long as that ventilation is not a howling wind coming through..and you can design your venting to simply pull in air instead of letting it blow in..then it should be a good thing. 

The concept is sort of like lasagna composting, with layer after layer added as manure is deposited. I think I add more in the winter months when they are spending more time in the coop..maybe a fresh layer every month~but that is also because I use leaves in the winter and they break down incredibly fast. If you are using pine shavings, you'd probably only add fresh every 3 mo. depending on how many birds you have in a certain space. 

In the summer months I might add some new bedding once or twice a spring/summer.


----------



## kessy09 (Jun 16, 2013)

My question is, on all the threads describing this, they say you can scoop out the bottom layer to use in your gardens etc, but how do you get just the bottom layer out?? I haven't had the chance yet as I've only been using this method for about three months now, but I cannot figure out how to get the bottom, composted layer out from under the top fresh layer. By the way, we are in Northern MB and experience the same kind of winters as you Albertans. -40 degrees Celsius and windy!! We planted a thick row of cedars all the way around our coop and greenhouse area to act as a wind break so I hope for the best. So far, I love the deep litter method and I can be right in the coop and after three months I can't smell a thing except for the wood we used to build it-it smells so good in there. And not a single fly. It's amazing to me that we've gone through a sweltering summer with a chicken coop and now that its almost done I'm realizing I have LESS flies this year with a chicken coop than we did when we didn't have one next to the house. Besides the lack of smell to attract them, those chickens are lightning fast at plucking out of the air any fly that does dare/happen to try and make their way through their run area. I've seen it, it's dinosaur-like.


----------



## shanedavis (Feb 26, 2013)

Kessy09 ...
How did you start your deep litter? ... How do you find enough organic material in winter to add s new fresh layer? ... And how did you vent your coop? ... The wind howls out here in the winter. I understand we are talking about ventilation and not a draft blowing right on the roosts/nesting boxes but, how can I move enough sir through the coop to push humidity out the top without the coop being drafty ... Seems they will burn alot of extra food calories trying to stay warm.

Bee...
You mentioned the warmth aspect of deep litter ... When I turn my regular compost pile it is very warm, steaming sometimes but it is Apx. 4ft square and almost 3ft deep at times. Only the top 2or3 inches are dry ... Everything else is sticky wet decomposing. Dry warm is good, wet warm is bad in the chicken world... Right? I don't mean to be blind to something simple, just seems like I'm missing something compared to my regular compost pile. Do you have any pictures of your set up? How deep is deep enough? Do you rake everything out once a year and start over? I assume the birds "turn" the litter themselves to add air to the layers aiding decomposition?

Sorry for so many question ... Best way I have found to learn is doing, watching, and asking

SD


----------



## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

shanedavis said:


> Kessy09 ...
> How did you start your deep litter? ... How do you find enough organic material in winter to add s new fresh layer? ... And how did you vent your coop? ... The wind howls out here in the winter. I understand we are talking about ventilation and not a draft blowing right on the roosts/nesting boxes but, how can I move enough sir through the coop to push humidity out the top without the coop being drafty ... Seems they will burn alot of extra food calories trying to stay warm.
> 
> Bee...
> ...


If you've only been doing it for 3 mo. I'm doubting that anything is composted enough to put on a garden, so getting the bottom layers out right now is a moot point. But, it's just like anything else you want to get to the bottom of...you move the top to one side and access the bottom layers, place the top back where the bottom was and repeat that all over the space. You will easily be able to tell the top from the bottom, as the bottom will be rich, black/brown in color and have smaller particles and the top will look pretty much like regular bedding.

"_Only the top 2-3 in. is dry_"...and that is all you need to worry about when you are talking about chickens and where they walk. During the colder months your compost is not going to be as warm as the warmer months and it will be less active in processing...and it will _still_ stay warm, though it won't produce the level of humidity and warmth that it would in the warmer months.

Ventilation is the key to keeping it warm and dry instead of warm and moist. A draft is like sitting in front of a fan and a ventilation is like fresh air being pulled into an open window....if you can arrange your ventilation to act in such a way that the wind doesn't blow directly into the opening, then it will merely pull fresh air in.

It needs to be deep enough to provide enough carbonaceous materials to bind with the nitrogenous droppings and this is done by layering in the bedding as needed to facilitate this process.

I have a soil floor, so I don't ever have to clean mine out, it just reverts to soil. With a wood flooring coop, it's probably best to scoop out some of the composted material once a year to make room for more or pretty soon you'd have your head touching the rafters. Most folks do that once a year and place it on their garden.

They never clean it all out but leave some to inoculate the new bedding with beneficial microbes and the existing insect life that aid in digesting the manure and bedding materials.

You start by simply laying down a layer of bedding that can bind with manure and compost. Straw is inadvisable as it absorbs little and breaks down hardly any over time. Hay can be too moist a bedding and the strands too long for the chickens to keep them moving, tends to form moisture caps and mold...but can be added among smaller particles in small amounts to create balance in litter.

In the winter months I have used stored leaves, pine needles and other yard debris, as well as pine shavings. People use all manner of bedding choices, depending on what they can get cheap or free and according to what will compost in their climate.

I've seen excellent draft free ventilation done with many designs..one even used pvc pipe that allowed air intake but not winds to whistle through the coop. Let your imagination run wild...


----------



## shanedavis (Feb 26, 2013)

Thank s for the insight ... Really interesting concepts ... Are there any health risks to the flock?


----------



## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

If you listen to the USDA and what they print out about their deep litter systems in commercial broiler houses, there are all kinds of vectors that will inhabit the bedding and ruin the housing structures. 

People using in a backyard flock setting are reporting improved health and coop environment with the use of the deep litter. Less ammonia smells, less flies, less feather picking issues, warmer conditions in the winter coops, less problems with mites and lice.


----------



## shanedavis (Feb 26, 2013)

Thanks Bee


----------

