First Clean Out Of Deep Litter @ 7 months.

1723 Views 30 Replies 12 Participants Last post by oldasrocks, Sep 21, 2018

dmm1976

Discussion Starter · Sep 17, 2018

I have to admit I was skeptical of this method. Not cleaning out the coop regularly and replacing the bedding went against my inner clean freak.
However, after 7 months of just stirring and topping off the bedding , here is the results. I'm very pleased. With only my 6 hens I could of probably went a whole year. But I wanted this to kickstart my compost for spring.

You can actually see where it looks like there is dirt mixed in the bedding but Ive only been using pine shavings.

I'm replacing about 1/2 the bedding, leaving some of the old that has the good bacteria as farmer Google suggests.

Also there is zero smell. It just smells like sawdust.

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aart

· #6 · Sep 18, 2018

That 'dirt' is mostly pulverized poops and maybe spilled feed.
Did you add any 'composting' organisms to the litter to get things started?
Ditto the nitrogen/wood aspect that haypoint stated.
You'll have to add a lot of water and probably more 'greens', keep it turned and 'hot', to get that wood to break down in a reasonable amount of time.

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aart

· #24 · Sep 19, 2018

haypoint said:
The ammonia would take your breath away, it was so strong.

I can't imagine that being a 'good thing'.

dmm1976 said:
What orgamisms would you suggest? I didnt add anything and that "dirt" which I knew wasn't actually dirt...it was at the bottom of the litter.

Do you think from now till March is enough time for my compost pile if I take care of it properly?

Organisms as in some already live and viable compost...it's what's needed for a true composting deep litter.

Yes, know the 'dirt' isn't dirt', why I added the apostrophes...and noted it was pulverized poops..and maybe spilled feed, dander, etc.

Have no idea how long your pile will take to break down, I just know that wood shavings can last a long time and that you don't want to mix it into your soil.

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aart

· #29 · Sep 20, 2018

dmm1976 said:
For the record, I have had no ammonia smell.

Me, and I think @Grey Mare, were referring to this:

haypoint said:
The ammonia would take your breath away, it was so strong.

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