I finally saw the light on deep litter after a bad winter in Spokane

For years, I was a weekly clean-out guy. I'd scrape the coop floor bare every Saturday, thinking that was the only way to keep things healthy. Last winter, we had a brutal cold snap here in Spokane, and my birds were huddled and miserable. I went to help a friend with her flock and stepped into her coop. It was noticeably warmer, maybe 10 degrees warmer than mine, and it smelled like a forest floor, not ammonia. The floor was covered in a foot of dry, fluffy bedding. She hadn't cleaned it out in months, just added fresh pine shavings on top. That was my moment. I'd been working way too hard and making my chickens colder by removing all that natural insulation and heat-generating material. I switched to the deep litter method that week and never looked back. Has anyone else made a switch that completely changed their winter routine?

3 comments

3 Comments

bethcarr2mo ago

A foot of bedding? Honestly, that number shocks me. I always pictured deep litter as just a few extra inches. I can't imagine managing that much material without it getting damp or packed down. How do you even turn it properly at that depth? It must be a huge amount of shavings to start. The warmth makes total sense, but the scale of it is hard to wrap my head around.

laura2111mo ago

Beth, that "huge amount of shavings to start" part you mentioned, yeah, it's a lot. Like, way more than you'd think, especially if you're used to just tossing in a couple bags. But the secret is, you don't really "turn it" at the bottom - you're just stirring the top few inches where the poo lands. The bottom layer stays undisturbed and that's what makes the heat, so it's more about not overworking it than wrestling with a foot of material. The dampness thing is real if your ventilation's off, but with good airflow it stays surprisingly dry, just kind of composting slowly.

miller.jason2mo ago

Honestly, the depth is key for real heat. You just stir the top layer with a rake, the bottom does its own thing.