Doing Deep Bedding The Right Way

This is a follow-up to yesterdays video on the compost pile and deep bedding.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CLICK 'SHOW MORE' FOR RESOURCES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We generally only try to reply to comments the first 24 hours after the video aired due to the amount of comments we receive. Feel free to get in touch with us via facebook or email.
Link to our Facebook Page: / swedishhomestead
Do you like what you see? You can make a donation to our channel here:
/ 117708921611213
_
You can support us for FREE by shopping on Amazon via this link: amzn.to/2iT3N3Q
_
Tools I use daily
Leatherman Surge: amzn.to/2jm6dbJ
Stanley Box Knife: amzn.to/2iOi3bG (I use a different brand that is not available on amazon)
Head Lamp Petzl Pixa 3: amzn.to/2iPEjjR (during winter time)
_
Clothes I use:
Merino wool / no smell long underwear: amzn.to/2iMl4Lr
Merino wool / no smell long sleeve shirt: amzn.to/2iOt904
www.pfanner-austria.at/en/
_
Other Tools We Use / Are Planning To Get
Axes:
Gränsfors Bruk Small Forest Axe: amzn.to/2iSuXrm
Gränsfors Scandinavian Forest Axe: amzn.to/2hZUvU1
Gränsfors Carpenters Axe: amzn.to/2iOjFlK
Fiskars Splitting Axe: amzn.to/2j1ieA4
Battery Driven:
Hitachi 18V Drill: amzn.to/2iOrcku
Knifes & Pruning:
Mora Knife: amzn.to/2iSziuK
Felco Hand Pruner: amzn.to/2i3aQp9
Silky Handsaw: amzn.to/2iSC5Eo
Swiss Army Knife: amzn.to/2imOCfs
Garden Tools:
Dutch High Quality Garden Tools: www.sneeboer.com/en/
Fiskars Light Weight Rake: amzn.to/2iOxO2g
Wolf-Garten Hand Trowel: amzn.to/2iOALQb
_
Poultry Equipment
Bell Waterer: amzn.to/2iSwDBa (we use a different brand)
Electric Poultry Netting: amzn.to/2iSwP3m
Solar Energizer: amzn.to/2iSDXww
Poultry Leg Bands: amzn.to/2iMvFGn
Water Nipples: amzn.to/2iFC7Mm
Ceramic Infrared Heater: amzn.to/2jDjfle

[@nogames8982]

I think you did a good job of explaining the difference between deep litter and a compost pile. They are definitely not the same thing.

[@jamesbarker5282]

consider biochar too it is also good to mix with there bedding

[@johnmarquardt1991]

I love the sound of chickens ... so relaxing. They are fun to watch too.

[@criswentz8343]

My daughter and I are looking for our homestead here in the states. You inspire me.

[@buckthorn7084]

I've been trying to find more info on deep bedding. Thanks much for taking the time to help out us rookies! Really appreciate it.

[@QuiChiYang2]

Add oyster mushroom spores or grow them & reap the benefits of mycelium in your CNA rich compost.

[@TheFarahk]

QuiChiYang2 mind expanding more on this?

[@jmstrings]

Love the daily video style of interaction with the fans. Keep it up Simeon!

[@hermitld]

Good talk, I enjoyed the chicken's input too.

[@laurafedora5385]

The chickens made a lot of good points

[@jawadsaadi]

you are doing a fantastic job in developing your channel, I wish you and your family all the best. I love every bit of this channel.

[@annmariewright1807]

you make me wish I had learned to farm when I was young.I lived in cities most of my life. I enjoy watching you do the work. .lol

[@NaturesCadenceFarm]

I really appreciate how much research you have done on these different methods you are experimenting with. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and results! 👍

[@joshuahowey9879]

I watched this series from the beginning and is the reason I now heat with deep litter and compost. One dry and one wet. Very easy to set up and maintain. I saw these in time to take the less to none straw advice for the heating compost. Thank you for another informative post.

[@thomasfarkas5458]

Good video. Thank you for the explanation regarding the two types of composting methods and why it's done that way. I can't imagine how noisy it would be with 300 chickens. Looking forward to the next video.

[@GordonjSmith1]

Putting the roost over the straw/pile is a very clever idea. Maybe one you want to turn into a continuous process?

[@michaelb.5345]

Makes sense to me Simeon, keep doing it the way you are. My tilling idea was bad. Mike

[@restorationacre5491]

Probably the best explanation of deep bedding I have heard. Thanks for the channel. You are doing an amazing job!

[@simeonandalex]

Thank you.

[@brentonpauldanieli1151]

@@simeonandalex How do you prepare those beds for Spring plantings?

[@kimmymole5661]

Thank you for the detailed explanation

[@prayerangel1]

Use more leaves in your bedding for a quicker breakdown during the winter months...the wood chips take too long, though you can use them some to bring more air spaces to the litter. To retain moisture in that composting DL under the roosts, you'll want to cap off the turned pile with dry material to retain the moisture within the pile after you are done turning. I usually flip dry material on the nightly roost deposits daily to keep that valuable moisture within the mass.

[@Stephen-nd1sx]

You are a fast worker!

[@angelj8367]

Really love how you relate with your chickens. They look very happy and content. Thank you for the video. I will follow your example and do this type of bedding for my chickens.

[@raymondhodge3979]

Great explanation about how your system works. Love all your videos.

[@cashk100]

Thank you very much for taking time to explain all this. Great video, very informative.

[@judya.shroads8245]

Maybe add the kitchen scraps, where the chickens will scratch up everything.

[@stevestephen7673]

Very good explanation Simeon.

[@lonestarcoops6889]

Thorough overview. Well done.

[@RiverPlaid]

Thank you so much for sharing this information 😊

[@JesseWorkshop]

Love the deep bedding method as well! Have 10 inches and there's no smell to the coop after 1 year. Keep up the great work, I'm learning a lot.

[@soitsLala]

how many chickens do you have?

[@JesseWorkshop]

@@soitsLala 4 chickens, it worked out great for us.

[@soitsLala]

@@JesseWorkshop Thanks for the response :). I am also wondering: do you use the method in the run as well? How is it affected by ventilation: too much or too little: fresh air? Do you turn/mix up the bedding or just lit it be?

[@JesseWorkshop]

@@soitsLala they free range so I don't have a run. The coop was vented at the top, nothing crazy. I mix the meddling every couple weeks and add some each month. Started with 6 inches and would add about an inch or two a month. I've moved since I posted this and have the chickens away but after over 1 year I never changed it out, just kept adding. Will do again once I get more.

[@soitsLala]

@@JesseWorkshop Thanks for the clarification.

[@craigmooring2091]

Good clarification.

[@mamabear8590]

Yes! Helpful Thank You ☺️

[@terriefriday2462]

Thanks for sharing

[@babafahrikegazating9290]

Loving this video right from Kenya...very great thank you man

[@bethhinton7115]

Your hens are trying to talk to everyone...thanks for the information

[@robmosher362]

I have built a couple (2), two foot by two foot screens, using two inch lumber for the frames. One frame has 1/2” square screening and the second has 1/4” screening. I would first put the half inch screen on top of the wheel barrel and shovel my working compost, like floor shavings through it. This gives me immediate access to the compost that is mostly broken down and falls through the screen and into the wheel barrel. I can use this portion as a starter for another compost pile or mix it in with soil, where it will continue to break down. If I want purer compost, then I will empty the wheel barrel onto cardboard and then shovel the 1/2” compost through the 1/4, screen. Just an idea / process if you need some immediate compost. The compost that does not pass through the screening process goes back into the original pile of compost for the longer decomposition process. You can add new wood chips to the floor to continue the compost process and there is plenty of good bacteria and fungi in the original compost base to speed up the process.

[@peterbathum2775]

Greetings from the middle of the michigan mitten. us. starting a coop. good information. Thank you very much.

[@melovescoffee]

That was very helpful, i didn't understand the deep bedding correctly. I don't keep any farm animals anyway except a rabbit pet friend for my cat. Don't worry about answering everything. There are only 24 hours in a day. :D

[@julioequinones]

add some mushroom blocks (wine cap) to get the mycelium running and some worms, that sounds like a good idea!!!. you can put a box over them to protect from the chickens eating them!!!

[@mommymint]

Where do you find these?

[@stilo398]

our ducks are always making the wood shavings @ the bottom of our greenhouse too wet and it gets ammonia-smelling. So this might be a good solution, although we have rabbit cages in there above the floor.

[@JustinC905]

Love the fact that you're using the compost to heat, reintroducing manure back into pile from the chicken roost. It will be interesting to see what the piglets do, and what properties they bring. The aerating, pig manure, and the chase(between the piglets and the chickens. :D). I'm interested in what balance of composition you will get, and if you meet what you expect with the experiment. Always amazing content. Great explanations. It'll be nice what the piglets do. Cheers.

[@simeonandalex]

I know. I am very excited for the piglets as well.

[@cchurch5037]

Swedish Homestead Hi Simeon thanks for the awesome video on chicken litter system :-). look forward to seeing those piglets in action - do you have any concerns the pigs might start eating chickens :-o

[@Q.Mechanic]

If I make a deep litter system, then when I turn to aerate it do I need to turn it over right from its base or just the few layers on top of it?

[@keithkuckler3184]

I used to use wheat/oat straw for bedding, I also used to throw chunks of good leafy alfalfa on top all through the winter. The chickens loved the alfalfa leaves and whatever was left got mixed into the bedding. Of course I would have to clean out the litter on a regular basis and start over. the manure was run out of a spreader into a pile which chopped it and fluffed it so that it would compost quite quickly for use on my garden. I guess there are lots of different ways to raise healthy and productive animals in a northern climate like mine in Minnesota or yours in Sweden. I used to raise a mixed use meat/egg breed, I would slaughter the roosters when they were big, and, then keep the hens with one rooster throught the fall and winter. in the spring, I would start over with another batch, and, sell the hens for stewing.

[@simeonandalex]

Thanks for sharing.

[@angelialvares]

what is the base floor made of before you add the bedding,? is it a concrete or tiled floor?

[@WendyK656]

Simeon, can you use straw for deep bedding for your chickens?

[@mkayweber3739]

What breed of chicken is that beside you at 0:45, please. We have some in our 8-week-old flock and not sure what they are. Thank you and Thank you again for the videos.

[@silverhooligan1256]

Can you use cedar chips and shavings?

[@heavenscenthomestead4242]

I love your videos. You are an ambitious young man. Can you plant right in the wood chips in the spring like the 'Back to Eden' method?

[@simeonandalex]

We will see. I hope I can do that. Otherwise I will pull them back and plant in the dirt.

[@john-folkeaidanpaa2070]

how warm is the deep bedding getting in winter?

[@globalsunseeker8225]

do we have to add soil in the bedding?

[@soitsLala]

does it work with open ventilation?

[@kevinparker7953]

Good morning Simeon.

[@simeonandalex]

;) Morning. Evening here.

[@doubled3119]

Hey what are the chickens that are almost all white with like black checkering pattern on the neck and some on the tail? I have 1 but don,t know what it is, was thinking it was a Sussex. But the guy I got her from said she was a White Dorking but honestly think he was wrong.

[@laurabunyard8562]

That is the sound of happy chickens.

[@grammydayao7581]

I have chickens in a cemented floor building , I have been doing the deep litter method, I smell urine and poo , I tried using lime it helps but I was wondering if wood chips from home depot would help the smell , I want healthy chickens , can I use chips

[@gregstickels5706]

This was a response I got from my comment on the ASK PHILL part 4 video. I said that I had been told that you could not use DE when using Deep Litter Bedding. Flyte So Fancy 14 hours ago To the very best of my knowledge and research, DE does not harm bacteria, in fact some bacteria actually use it as a source of silica. Therefore i personally do not see why it cannot be used in a deep litter system although of course it is a drying agent so if used in quantity this in itself will kill the bacteria.

[@alexanderfordham1735]

so is it ok to have a deep litter chicken run without a roof? or would the rain mess it up

[@RestWithin]

What was so funny is the chicken kept coming close to him.

[@lofman]

did you build the green house yourselves? can you show how it is built with some comments? we need a similar setup. :-)

[@jeremystewart6199]

the was a vid when they built it, check out the play list

[@falfas55bgas]

So how are you going to get more chickens in the greenhouse? Do you have more or will it be the once recently hatched?

[@simeonandalex]

When the chicks are big enough they will join the greenhouse flock.

[@Largexxl-zn4lx]

i think the purpose of a pile is to get compost very quikly. the bedding serves as an good floor surface for animals with the benefit of compost at the end of usage as an secondary goal. am i right?

[@simeonandalex]

Well said.

[@TheWhedgit]

I'll save everyone the googling :) 1 meter = 3.28 feet 700 liters = 185 gallons so a cube about 3 ft 4 inches on all sides of wood chips will hold 185 gallons of water.

[@Theorimlig]

So one cubic meter is around 30-ish cubic feet.

[@TheWhedgit]

1 cubic meter is 35.3 cubic feet

[@toddbailey5198]

185 US gal 154 Imp gal

[@faithandivor]

TheWhedgit ty

[@aenorist2431]

1m^3 makes 10k litres. In relation to the 700l of water thats 7%, so Woodchips hold 7% of their volume in water. And such is the beauty of metric, being able to just calculate that in your head.

[@meriatihan5271]

Termites loves wood, is that going a problem in deep bedding

[@twinny12009]

Hi I live in the UK and it rains a lot. I have a small coup and the run is exposed to the elements. Can you do the deep bedding method if the run is outside? Will it get to wet?

[@giverny28]

Great question. I am the same way.

[@storms_lair2123]

What breed of white chicken is that?

[@victorforte1605]

is adding lime to the bedding on occasion or is it not a good idea?

[@giverny28]

Yes, this is my question too.

[@faithnimue1]

do you think having ducks in there as well as chickens would therefore not work as their poop is so much wetter?

[@noelpaulomanio3531]

Can i use rice husk for deep bedding?

[@simonesmit6708]

I'll bet you could, but a lot more will be needed as it will break down much faster than wood chips.

[@kelperdude]

The chickens are a nosy audience.

[@simeonandalex]

They sure are.

[@mytube0969]

I love how they seem to follow you around the greeenhouse. They aren't camera shy! hehe I found your channel about a month ago ... loving it. Very well done & informative!

[@jeanettewaverly2590]

They act like you're their guru, lol.

[@criswentz8343]

He is their Giver Of Food. Therefore, he is mesmerizing for them LOL

[@PANTTERA1959]

I'm afraid pigs will destroy that greenhouse. They may rip the film trying to scratch on the studs. If you do pig it, please put up a time lapse so we laugh at the social disruption. Luv the channel,tx for the instructional info.

[@vmcougarintn5035]

5:16 What type of chicken (or rooster) is that too the left, that has all the feathers on it's legs?

[@DieselsMuddie]

Looks like a Brahma to me ....

[@simeonandalex]

Those are Brahma from a friend. I keep them for them over the winter.

[@vmcougarintn5035]

Thank you Simeon. I have never seen them before. I don't like chickens, but I find your video about this method of over wintering them interesting and the breeds you have are very colorful.

[@MrVailtown]

Are you going to string some electric wire , single strand around the inside of the greenhouse to keep the pigs from pushing on the plastic ?

[@simeonandalex]

I have tried that but it doesn't work. The deep bedding works as an isolator so the electric current doesn't go through the pig into the ground and they don't get shocked.

[@Jadae]

Chickens be like: "Science Smience. Give us treats or gtfo," lol. My hens are the same way. Greedy gals, lol.

[@younginsong4355]

Can you spell the man in Virginia whom you learn from ?

[@ad-rock603]

Joel salatin

[@ashencrumbs]

So, why no horses on the farm?

[@jeanettewaverly2590]

Yes! You need some lovely big draft horses to help you with the logging!

[@chapplin1236]

Why haven't you added more chickens then so the process can go faster?

[@simeonandalex]

I have my other chickens in a separate flock for breeding. When the chicks are a little older they will go into the greenhouse as well.

[@dtsouleater]

love your accent, you sound like people from 80s..

[@MetaView7]

it is ok to use human urine as a starter; you don't have to feed it all the time.

[@demonrathunter]

another good video! do you do anything special for rodents?

[@simeonandalex]

Cats. Haven't had issues yet.

[@simonesmit6708]

Chickens also like mice as food.

[@jumpleadsx2]

Simeon I think you should introduce the video outside, somewhere, then do the title reel, then carry on with your content in the shed. ie: it reads better to break up the scene before and after the first title sequence

[@simeonandalex]

Ok. Thanks for the feedback.

[@MetaView7]

the chickens are disappointed, they can't find worms and bugs.

[@simeonandalex]

I know, but they find something anyways.

[@carolv8450]

Yours is the only right way?

[@MultiTSJ]

Simeon, how tall are you? Serious question just for reference. Why? Because Wranglerstar says he is 6ft 4 inches tall and weighs over 200 lbs. He doesn't look like it! You, however look like a big guy. I have a theory. Wranglerstar lives in the Pacific northwest of the US. Big mountains, sweeping vistas. Makes him look average size. You live in Sweden. Not so vast, not so sweeping. In fact, if you fart your neighbor will probably smell it (and enact a law to do something about it). So your environment *may* make you look like a big guy. Just sayin'. Also have you and your wife had any problems living in Sweden being an interracial couple? After all she is from Oregon and you are from Germany. The good thing is that your children will probably have hybrid vigor. They will be amazing long distance runners and solve Rubik's cubes lightening quick. In Iowa, thy have signs everywhere advertising "hybrid vigor". They are talking about their corns fields where they put up roadside signs advertising how great their corn fields are. They also have 20 million hogs and 3 million cattle that they feed. There are only 3 million people in all of Iowa. They also wear baseball caps with the logo "Boar Sperm" on it. Seriously. They also have restaurants named "Machine Shed". Serves pretty good food actually. I live in Texas where it is so blah and boring.

[@simeonandalex]

I am 6ft.

[@danielwilson6314]

Ralph Cramden those road side signs you are talking about are there to let people know what variety number is for that field and of course the seed company that produces the seed. And the Iowa Machine shed is a very good place to eat and remember this Iowa feeds the world and We produce more corn than anywhere else in the world

[@subtleTwists]

You think they are an interracial couple? WOW....

[@ronaldstout1390]

@@subtleTwists Mercy....do people still concern themselves with what others do? I hope NOT.

[@tylerhall6455]

This guy is a fucking idiot. Prob some stupid snowflake kid. I realize this is a old comment but someone needed to say it.

[@margaretmurphy6546]

Pigs will kill and eat chickens.

[@muskrilcardo9372]

U no wat ur talking about!!!!

[@reneebrown2968]

Wet bedding =smell, stink and nasty