Deep Litter

[westy]

Do you fly with deep litter and what do you think of it, do you reccomend it?

[Guest jason]

I used to use deep litter but gave over due to wife complaining about shavings, straw and wood chips being trodden into the house, I now scrape the floor daily.

[westy]

thanks jason

[Peckedhen]

I scrape daily but, the loft white walks everywhere too, so I was thinking of trying deep litter when I get my new loft. (And when I can't see the droppings I might not be as paranoid about them :!)

[jimmy white]

:) AT THE MOMENT IM USING WOOD SHAVINGS, AND SCRAPING THE AVIARY, ITS LOVELY CLEAN AND DRY IN THE LOFT, EASY RAKED,, BUT AS JASON SAYS , YOU TRAIL IT EVERYWHERE AND CAN MAKE SOME MESS,, I JUST KEEP AN OLD,     PAIR OF BOOTS FOR THE LOFT ONLY, CHANGE THEM AT THE BACK DOOR   :)[ BUT SOMETIMES I FORGET   :)

[Guest slugmonkey]

I fly deep litter I have found it keeps my lofts drier once you get a 1-2 inch layer built up it really keeps the moisture down as the dry stuff wicks the moisture out of the wet  stuff I use wheat straw when I put in fresh straw the birds pick through it and toss it around and really seem to like it this also cleans up there ceres

[THE FIFER]

I HAVE TRIED DEEP LITTER BUT LIKE OTHERS THOUGHT IT TRAILED ABOUT AND STUCK TO UR FEET, ALSO FIND AFTER A WHILE THE LOFT GETS A BIT DUSTY OVERHEAD, OK MAYBE I WAS NOT DOING IT RIGHT, BUT I NOW SCRAPE OUT AND USE FLOOR WHITE, WHICH DOES NOT CARRY ABOUT IF U BRUSH IT IN, GIVE IT A GOOD RUB IN AND IT WILL NOT MAKE A MESS AND KEEPS THE FLOOR DRY HAS A LOVELY SMELL AND LOOKS GOOD, AS FOR THE OTHER THINGS IT PROTECT ETC WELL WHO KNOWS,

[Guest]

Think deep litter needs a second pair of shoes - otherwise you carry stuff on the soles, in my case over the slabs (couldn't really call it a patio  :B ) and into the house. I've an old pair of slippers which never come out of the loft and an old pair of garden shoes (laceless) which never get further than just inside the loft door.

 

Lots of different deep litter mixes. Mine is agricultural lime & stalosan. There is dust, but its more clinging to walls, netting and grills rather than 'the air's thick with it'. Tend to throw the stalosan at the cement-render on the inside walls too, and it sticks on there. The only time the dust is airborne is when I give the floor a good rake-over, and then its a cloud - but sucked straight outside in seconds.

 

My deep litter is a fine ash consistency, reddish-grey, maybe an inch deep, much shallower on the box perches and nest box floors, much deeper under perches.  Reckon its very hygienic as everything dries up quickly ... so its deadly to eggs, larvae and other microbes that need to be moist to survive; Still rake and remove droppings daily; bagged & binned & already disinfected by the deep litter mix. Definitely no 'pigeon' smell. Takes a while to get going, maybe 6 months; 17 months later reckon its been well worth it.

 

 

[Guest]

Westy, try Easibed shavings, its a horse bedding and its fairly heavy stuff so doesnt get trampled into the house so much. I use it but still clean the droppings out of it daily and spray it once a week. Its good as it doesnt get too dusty.

[AlanWilkins]

Cat litter under the boxes with a wooden suround to hold it there

[pigeonjock]

ONCE TRIED IT BUT FOUND WHEN WE CLEANED IT OUT AT THE END OF THE SEASON WE FOUND CORN THAT WAS NOW BLACK FROM EXPOSURE AND PROBABLY AMMONIA.I STOPPED THEN AS I WAS PARANOID THAT IF THE BIRDS ATE CORN LIKE THAT I'D NEVER GET THEM IN FORM.

[westy]

it dont bother me about the mess in the house because i have a old pair of school shoes. has anyone got any pictures of what it is like.

[Guest]

WE FOUND CORN THAT WAS BLACK .

 

I've found that grain dropped out of sight WILL turn black after a day or so, not down to the litter though???  Agree with you, don't like it and bin it, but reckon bird would turn its nose up at something like that.

[pigeonjock]

WASNT GIVINGG IT THE CHOICE TO TURN ITS NOSE UP AT IT BRUNO.A HUNGRY PIGEON WILL EAT YOUR SHOE LACES SO I THINK IT WILL EAT A PIECE OF BLACK CORN.

[Guest slugmonkey]

I have found corn in my loft deep down but I never have seen it discolored are you sure your litter is dry ???

[Guest]

We used deep littler during the winter when e lived in Washington State, we found the best floor covering was the pellets made for wood stoves, very inexpensive and the droppings dried as soon as they hit.  We used to rake the clumps out once a week.  The old bird race teams seemed to like them as we had nests built all over the floor, instead of the nest boxes.  

[Peckedhen]

I'm looking for a deep litter for my new loft. I'd read about the wood pellets being used in the States Linda but, I can't get the wood pellets within 50 miles of me. However,  they are available in some areas.

.

I did come across a warning though:

 

Unlike softwood shavings, the phenols (natural volatile chemicals in the wood which may cause health problems) are removed during the pellet manufacturing process. It is still essential to read the label, though. Only pellets that have no additives or accelerants should be used as litter.

[Guest slugmonkey]

I dont really think some of you are clear on what deep litter is just piling up a bunch of stuff on the floor does not a deep litter system make to fly true deep litter you are supposed to let the droppings accumulate and dry out you are supposed to have dry loft conditions to begin with if you have a moisture issue dont try it as you will have a smelly mess on your hands I have about 2" of BONE DRY droppings and straw this is raked around occasionaly to prevent any little problems from occuring ( wet spots ) as more droppings accumulate the dry stuff from before pulls the moisture out of the fresh droppings if you are using cider vinegar or something else to alter the PH of the droppings this makes it tough on worms and bacteria if you are getting bugs you have got moisture if you smell pigeons you have moisture if you rake this around its easy to find any places where you are getting water as you can see the wet spots insect eggs wont hatch if this is done properly as the drying action of this material acts to nearly mummify the eggs I put some fresh straw down every few weeks to help build bulk the more volume you can create with this mix as you rake it around the better this creates more surface area and helps the drying action

[ribble]

just started using this instead of easy bed,seem ok time will tell........http://www.nedz.co.uk/ the pro one.

[pigeonpete]

Hi ribble looks good mate is it pricey though? how does it differ from easi bed?

[ribble]

i paid £3.75p per bale.id say its a touch more courser than the easy bed.the reason i got it was the lass who worked at the equine store used it her self and assured me it was better for horses and not a bit of dust.like i said time will tell.ps the birds are happy on it.

[Guest]

Agree with your definition of deep litter, Slugmonkey. There are different 'systems' as this thread shows. I think yours is what is termed 'dry droppings' method here.

 

Also agree that dry mix is important; otherwise smells AND breeds microbes (think one is a sign that the other's taking place).

 

Can't really explain the black grain bit: litter is dry, but there is some moisture present in the grain itself.

 

[Guest]

it dont bother me about the mess in the house because i have a old pair of school shoes. has anyone got any pictures of what it is like.

 

 

Bit late answering request, still finding my way with digi camera, but here's what my deep litter looks like, in the 'aviary' section. The stuff in the corner is barley straw, put down yesterday for the birds to take back to their boxes. What's left will stay there, probably till end of the year.

[Chatrace]

can't see tyhe floor need to lighten the photo  ,or is it that deep :-)

[Guest]

Became too deep in places, Chatrace, thats why I decided on rake-up and bin too.

 

 

More pics: