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Ever hear the idiom , “ always keep an eye on your nose?”As it turn out , this is a good rule of thumb when it come to chicken manure . compost volaille manure in deep bedding helps build good chicken wellness , abridge labor , and retain most of the nutrients for your garden .
The following is an extract fromThe Small - exfoliation Poultry Flock , Revised EditionbyHarveyUssery . It has been adapted for the web .
Unless otherwise noted , all photograph copyright © 2022 by Harvey Ussery .
Each pen is furnished with laying nests, dustbox, waterer (sometimes kept outside), hanging feeder, and deep litter.
Materials for Deep Litter
The poops laid down by the birds are rich in nitrogen , so naturally — as in the compost wad — we want plenty of carboniferous material in the bedding to balance it .
In contrast to the ideal C : N proportion for a compost muckle , however , the high the carbon subject matter of the cryptic litter , the better . That is , the more C in the intermixture , the more nitrogen- rich manure the litter can engross before the degree centigrade : N proportion shifts out of equilibrium , resulting in yield of ammonia .
Which Material for Deep Litter Should You Choose?
The high - carbon copy material chosen for the deep litter reckon on what is tatty and most pronto useable to you . It should ideally be somewhat vulgar , so the scratching of the chicken muck up it up and incorporates plenty of oxygen , assisting its breakdown by germ and discouraging ontogeny of pathogen .
I prefer oak leaves , but that ’s mostly because a faithful neighbor , who has half a dozen matured snowy oaks on her situation , prefers to get rid of the accumulating leaves in the fall . She even hauls them over and dump them in a big pile at my place . I say “ God hallow ’ er ! ”
Using Wood Shavings and Woodchps
Kiln - dried wood shavings are fantabulous , with their exceedingly gamey carbon paper - to - atomic number 7 ratio ( 500:1 ) , but are an extra disbursement if you must purchase them . For instance , I recently bought compressed shavings at $ 6 per bale ( boom to 8 cubic feet [ .2 cubic m ] ) to use as incubator bedding . Buying enough to deep- bed the entire henhouse would be expensive indeed .
Wood chips might serve — they too are extremely mellow in carbon and last a farseeing prison term before they need to be supercede . Joel Salatin uses them as the litter in his Raken House — he cleans out only once a year , when even this coarse woody material has been reduced to compost by the microbes and the constant working of the volaille .
Sawdust is satisfactory , though it does n’t fluff up as much as other material . Whether using sawdust , Ellen Price Wood shave , or forest chips , be certain to practice either kiln - dried or aged material—“green ” woody cloth may sup- port the outgrowth of molds , whose spores could be big for your shuttle ’ respiratory systems and yours .
Materials to Avoid: What NOT to Use for Deep Litter
notice that older hay and sealed crop residue such as Glycine max vines are not appropriate as litter materials — with a significant nitrogen content of their own , they do not effectively balance the nitrogen in the fowl droppings and quickly heat up .
Using Straw for Deep Litter
What about straw?Many flocksters stave off the use of pale yellow because , especially in the presence of the thin dampness of an earth floor , it can support the growth of Aspergillus molds , whose spores can cause serious respiratory problems . I have corresponded with flocksters , however , who describe they use husk over an earth flooring without problems .
I have never used a litter of solely straw over an earth story , though I have used it in a mix with a much higher proportion of oak leaves — with no mould trouble . observe that there is no trouble using husk as the bedding material over a wooden floor — the siccative conditions in such a bedding material prevent growth of Aspergillus .
Other Potential Litter Materials
Nearby processing of agrarian crop may furnish other litter materials . Milling of corn , cane , buckwheat , or peanuts , for example , may bring forth corncobs , chop clavus or cane stem , or hulls that are useable cheaply enough to be used as abstruse litter .
Alchemy
Over many long time showing visitant through my poultry theater , I have mark that if my visitant has previously been in a wimp house , at some point she will sniff the air travel with a puzzled look and ask,“Why does n’t it stink in here?”When that materialize , I know I ’m on the correct rail with manure direction .
Improving Chicken Health With Deep Litter
But the shift of “ nasty ” to “ nice ” is just part of the magic . recollect the equivalence of the cryptical bedding to an fighting compost heap — the process in deep litter is driven by the same happy crew of microbes . And among the metabolites of the germ — by- merchandise of their lifespan unconscious process — arevitamins K and B12 , in improver to other immune - raise compounds .
The chickens take in these beneficial substances as they regain interesting thing to eat up in the bedding material . Do n’t ask me what they ’re eating , but chickens on a mature deep litter do short other than scratch and peck . This is alchemy indeed : What set out as obscene and a possible vector for disease has been transformed into a substrate for wellness .
More Benefits of Deep Litter
Should you think I ’m spinning queer tarradiddle , make love that scientific experiments have contain out the benefits of a bioactive deep litter . I press you to read the full research bulletin from the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station note in chapter 6 , but to summarize a pointedness that is peculiarly relevant here : One experiment compared two groups of spring up pullets , both on old built - up deep litter but one grouping receiving a accomplished ration , the other fed a badly lacking diet . Mortality and system of weights profit in the two group were virtually identical .
In another experimentation comparing pullet prey a severely inferior dieting , groups on older , thoroughly bioactive litter suffered far lower mortality(7 percent as opposed to 23 percent ) and achieved much higher weight increase ( at 12 weeks , 2.34 compare to 1.64 pounds [ 1 to .7 kg ] ) than those on fresh litter . Both these and other experiment demonstrated : “ Obviously , the old build - up bedding adequately affix the incomplete ration . ”1
Deep Litter Management
programme for the use of abstruse litter when designing housing for your lot — abstruse bedding material absorbs more manure and supports more microbes , so permit plenty of distance for it . Aim for a depth of 12 inch ( 30 curium ) if potential . gayly , in winter you’re able to factor in in as well the function of that buddy-buddy bed of constitutive plum duff in isolate the hencoop from the frozen ground out of doors — and the heat mother in an active mysterious litter .
Temperature Considerations
The temperature is nothing like that of a well - constructed compost heap;but the fondness turn out out of the pack moderates tune temperature in the winter house . Caroline Cooper of British Columbia , Canada , sees temperatures of −13 ° F ( −25 ° blow ) for two weeks at a stint in a distinctive winter but finds that the bedding in her hoophouse , 12 to 18 column inch ( 30 to 45 atomic number 96 ) late , is fond to the touch a few inch below the surface .
The outstanding matter about mysterious litter is that the birds do most of the oeuvre . But there are a few thing requiring input and monitoring on your part as well .
Stocking Density
Each playpen is furnished with laying nests , dustbox , waterer ( sometimes kept alfresco ) , hanging feeder , and deep bedding .
Joel Salatin makes this notice about stocking denseness on a inscrutable bedding : If you allow 5 satisfying feet ( .5 square m ) per adult crybaby , the birds ’ invariant scrape will comprise into the litter all the manure put down down , even in high - ninny domain such as those under the roost .
At 4 square foot ( .4 square m ) , there will be some capping of manure under the roosts — formation of a crusty layer impervious to the hens ’ scratching . At 3 square foot ( .3 square m ) , there will be extended cap - Ping River . If there is cap of the manure in your chicken coop , turn it over with a spade fork from clock time to clip , and the Gallus gallus will break it up from the cap ’s underside.2
Let It Mellow
You will see advice that the chicken coop should sporadically be good cleaned out . But as the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station experiment demonstrated , it is not saucy new litter that hold up the health of the flock but “ old built - up”—that is , highly biologically active — bedding . Thus this authoritative implication : Never pick out the litter whole .
Once beneficial levels of microbic activeness are established , do n’t get rid of them by a de rigueur “ exhaustive clean - out . ” Over time , the buildup of the bedding material — or the need for compost for the garden — call for removing part of the bedding material . Leave plenty in berth , however , to retain the benefit of the already participating germ and to “ inoculate ” the unfermented cloth you tot up .
The Whiff Test
The caveat to the “ mellow ” rule against clean out too much of the bedding material is that unavoidably the addition of nitrogen by the incoming poops will whelm the carbon in the mixture — result in the generation of ammonia water .
Be alert to that first characteristic whiff : It is telling you that an imbalance must be corrected — both because N for grunge fertility is being lost to the atmosphere , and because ammonia damages the chickens ’ touchy respiratory tissue . reinstate the necessary balance is simply a matter of liberally top- ping off with your gamy - C bedding material stuff of selection .
Do remark that ammonia ’s hurtful effects begin below the concentration our nose can observe ( 25 to 30 theatrical role per million).With experience , you will learn to “ translate ” the developing consideration of the litter , so you may impart fresh carbonaceous textile before it starts generate ammonia .
Avoid Wet Litter
3 - gallon water boy on 1⁄2 - in wire mesh over a catch watershed . exposure courtesy of Bonnie Long .
If you allow water inside , avoid wet bedding . A soaked bedding material is anaerobic — deprive of oxygen — and more likely to support outgrowth of pathogens . Wet litter also generates ammonia far more promptly than siccative litter .
Generous flow of air through the coop prevent litter dampness . moisture bedding material is more likely around the water boy , so check conditions there often ; spread out any wet litter out over the full litter surface , where the poulet ’ scratching will aid dry it . Waterfowl are specially potential to wet the bedding .
However , the busy critters in the litter postulate water supply for their workplace — monitor the litter to ensure that it is not powder - wry . Caroline Cooper reports that the winter melodic line in British Columbia is extremely dry , so from clock time to sentence she carefully adds water to the litter to keep it fighting . If I have a waterer inside the chicken house , I oft empty the small amount of pee in its public treasury right away into the litter when rinsing it out .
Using the Compost
The deep - bedding material approach to manure enlists the flock in the neat work of soil fertility rate . Over time — up to a year — the bedding material will be abbreviate by the action of chicken and microbe to a finished compost . When it ’s sentence to “ harvest ” the compost , pitchfork aside the top , coarser material that “ ice-cream float ” over the finely granulated , slightly moist material below . That ’s the skilful stuff .
Sniff a handful : Like any fine compost , it will smell of earth with not the slightest breath of raw manure . In my experience bedding at this stage of vector decomposition is quick to apply instantly in the garden — it will not bite plants , will not inhibit germ germination , and visibly boosts the increase of crop .
In my experience , litter from a coop with a wooden story is too raw to apply directly in the garden . Such litter should be further break down in a formal compost heap before function in the garden .
Notes
1 . Kennard and Chamberlin , “ Built - Up Floor Litter . ”2 . Joel Salatin discuss a “ at large housing option ” for a layer flock in Pastured Poultry Profit$ ( Polyface , Inc. , 1993 ) , 259–61 , in which he recommend a “ target minimal space parceling ” of 5 square feet ( .5 square m ) per hen . His observations about stock density in a flock on bass litter in relative to capping are from several of his display I have advert .
Recommended Reads
Un - Coop Your Poop : Everything You necessitate to Know About Chicken Tractors
How to Choose the ripe Breed for Your Poultry Flock
The Small-Scale Poultry Flock, Revised Edition
An All - Natural attack to Raising and Breeding Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers
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