How deep litter method works in chicken coops

I only clean my chicken coop once a year. Yes, you read that right. ONCE a YEAR. The best part though, is that my coop doesn't smell. At all! In fact, by the time I clean my coop all the bedding and chicken poop are so broken down, it's like shoveling dust.

When I first got my chickens, I cleaned the coop every 2 weeks. It wasn't exactly my favorite chore, but I chalked it up to one of those things I had to do and handled it. Then I discovered the deep litter method in a chicken forum discussion. Game changer. 

I've been using the deep litter method in my chicken coops for about 7 years now and it's the best thing that's happened to coop cleaning ... like, ever!

The deep litter method is exactly what it sounds like ... letting the coop litter get deep. In order to do that you don't clean it out from summer to spring. Just keep adding more every few weeks and stirring it up so it dries out and breaks down faster. Every week, add a little more litter and mix again. 

The chickens dig around in it and mix it too, so that helps the whole process. 

Deep Litter method: the once a year clean up

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and if you use the deep litter method in your chicken coop, eventually you just have to clean it out. Deep litter is awesome because it cuts coop cleaning down to a minimum. I just scrape poop boards when needed and add litter and Diatomaceous Earth once in awhile and my maintenance schedule is super easy! 

About once a year however, it all needs to come out and we start all over again. I usually do this in spring as the coop seems to stay cleaner longer since the chickens want to be outside so much now! Don't forget to wear a dust mask when cleaning your chicken coop. Here's how I make coop dust masks. Cleaning it all up is a pretty easy process though, this is how I do it:

Using shredded newspaper as coop bedding

Over the years I have tried various types of bedding in my chicken coops. Usually I stick with wood shavings but I have been known to use leaves, hay or straw as bedding in my coops from time to time. A few months back I came across a forum topic discussing coop litter and several people mentioned using shredded newspaper as coop bedding. It was supposed to be absorbent and easy to compost after coop cleaning.

I decided to do some research and give it a try. It wasn't difficult, just shred the newspaper and throw it in the coop. It was free. It was easy.....but how did it work?

Using shredded newspaper in the chicken coop

While newspaper is generally 'free' (what else are you gonna do with it after you read it?) the shredder certainly isn't and depending on what size coop you're filling you do run the risk of burning up a shredder. To prevent this I shredded paper for about 5 minutes a few times a day till I got enough paper for my coop. 

I only used the regular newspaper part, not the shiny ad papers. I also used some regular shredded paper like bills and such. 

I chose the d'Uccle coop for this experiment. It's not terribly large which I thought was a good idea in case it failed miserably. I covered the coop floor with about 2" of shredded paper. As the days went by it packed down and I would add more from time to time. 

The chickens had no problems walking in or turning the paper coop bedding. The coop didn't smell and when the paper litter got wet, it quickly dried out. 

I did see them eat a piece or two of shredded paper, but didn't notice any problems from it. 

Using leaves as coop bedding

Every fall I rake up the dried leaves and throw some in the runs for the chickens/guineas. They dig through them happily, finding bugs and tiny bits of grasses to eat. Sadly I can only get dry leaves once a year, but since they are absolutely free I never waste a chance to use them when I can. 

This year I decided to use them as bedding in the largest chicken coop I have. Technically it's the guinea coop, same idea though. 

This October I did my traditional fall clean out when I get rid of all the bedding from the last year. I use the deep litter method and it's been working great in this coop. The deep litter method requires quite a bit of bedding to start with, so all I did was fill the coop with dry leaves. I raked some up into bags to add in once the chickens broke up the leaves a bit. That's it! 

So far so good. I really like using leaves in the coop as well as the run. It's cheaper, easy & the chickens seem to love it. Read on for all the details....

Why the deep litter method never works for me!

The deep litter method is my absolute favorite coop bedding method. It's easy to do, very low maintenance and perfect for winter. Except, the deep litter method never works for me in the big coop! I can use it with no problem in all of my other coops and it works perfectly. It's just the one coop I have a problem with, and it's a very simple reason why.

It all started when I read about the deep litter method on a very busy chicken forum. What is the deep litter method you ask? It's not changing the coop litter all winter long. Who doesn't like that idea, right? So I did some research and learned more about it on Mother Earth news and got started.

It sounds simple but it is just a little bit more involved: add DE, add wood shavings and mix often. DE= food grade diatomaceous earth. Every week, add a little more litter, some DE and mix again. The chickens mix it too so that helps the whole process.