Your Barn Shouldn’t STINK! Deep Litter Method

When all the animals are in the barn for winter, it takes careful management to make sure you don't end up with a stinky, unhealthy mess. We like to utilize something we call the "carbon diaper." Watch this video to see how we keep our barn stink-free and our animals in healthy living conditions, all while building up fertility for future gardens and pastures.
For more information on deep bedding, visit the blog post here: homesteadingfa...
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#deepbeddingmethod #deeplittermethod #barnmanaegment

[@danielleterry2331]

I do deep shavings for my meat chics , I turn it every day and it helped keep down the smell , my neighbor have no idea I am raising my own meat ( I raise hens so very quiet). You can do this in a leanto or garage at end of the 6-7 weeks pile it up wet it down and cover with tarp to let the sun cook your compost, turn and wet every 2 weeks and within 3 months you have black gold to amend your garden 😁

[@CISABirdie]

Wow!! That’s amazing! Good work!

[@scubahealer]

Never heard of pre graining for the pigs. Makes sense.

[@jonnytownsend6641]

We grow earth tones dent grain corn, it is a hearty easy crop, I’d recommend looking into it! You not only get the kernels, but the stocks grow 9-11 ft high and make great bedding material too, and pigs love eating the whole plant. We save our seeds and have amazing crops every year, my goal is a 100x15 ft plot so it’s not an enormous space for a decent amount of harvest.

[@Teshuva_Tony]

You make great videos. Enjoyable to watch. Thanks

[@HomesteadingFamily]

Thanks for watching!

[@nicoleheppner4397]

Look at that great gate-man! Good job!

[@yeldesi9449]

Grace & Peace

[@ruthmcbride1778]

I love how your barn looks. Funny I started deep bedding in the early 2000’s. I hadn’t heard the term but I figured if it was clean enough that I or my kids were comfortable sitting on it, it was clean enough. We were sitting out with the goats one very cold night/ morning when they were kidding and realized it was like sitting on an electric blanket. When I piled it up in the early spring I had a huge compost pile that was quite warm and fell in size quickly. In just a few months it was a nice pile of compost. I did discover if you have cows or horses you need to add carbon much more often. Back when I started it wasn’t a thing so I felt I needed to keep it a secret at least until after I saw the process. I didn’t want people to think I was neglecting my animals. Now it is all named. Even keeping all the different species together is now a thing and I just did it because they are herd animals and I didn’t have enough of any one kind.

[@englishmaninco8711]

I wanted to free range our chickens but they are easy pickings! For everything !

[@christinejohnson7114]

Thank you for the video. We farm in MN and I've been wondering how to do deep bedding where the cows are under cover up to 6 months. We are trying wood chips this year for the first time and it is a definite improvement over past years but we've also been without snow and warmer this winter than average. We don't have pigs so I imagine we'll have to move the bedding to a compost pile for a bit before spreading on the fields. I can't wait for updates on how the pigs work and maybe I can use that to convince my husband we should get some.

[@SdW.8]

Very cool! I look forward to seeing the progression of this deep bedding system. Thanks for sharing. Much love from the Midwest US 💖

[@kchelley]

I’ve gotten dried corn from Azure before.

[@stephencameron1709]

Very interesting. Love your teaching these skills. ❤️🙏🏻

[@oliviatyrrell4122]

I’ve seen everyone treating deep bedding like a big new idea…where I’m from in upstate NY the old dairy farmers call it a bedded pack and it’s very common in dry cow pens and calf pens.

[@renees4375]

Pigs need lysine. It is an essential amino acid for them. Corn is high in lysine Barley is not and so not an ideal choice. I made this mistake before after reading older literature on raising pigs. Modesto milling has organic corn for animal feed.

[@stevenaylor5163]

TY

[@heatherpfeil2939]

Very informative

[@HomesteadingFamily]

Glad it was helpful!

[@whifflertakeatrip]

Amazing

[@lesmohr6289]

Try popcorn and look up popcorn if I remember right its not sparid

[@carolynmoody9460]

❤❤❤🕊️

[@triciaziegler-bozeman5006]

Do you have multiple pig species? I know the Kune Kune you have are non-rooting. Do they turn this over for you or do you have to have a different breed for the rooting?

[@electraspy]

Adding grain to deep bedding, doesn’t attract mice or rats from woods during at night?? I deep bed my goats and chicken coops but I don’t feed them anything there in bedding, that will get lost into it that may attract mice. I’ve heard horror stories of mice being attracted to chicken poo and homesteaders having to part with them for months, until mice move on.

[@mctomans]

Hello sir! Have you tried bio-char before? Even natural charcoal, and then you can use it to put into your soil.

[@denisemusicnut]

Great video! I really enjoy your instructional-style videos! Could you possibly grow enough corn to add to your deep bedding system, or do you have an insufficient amount of land to devote to field crops? I live in an area where a lot of wheat is grown. Would wheat straw work in a deep bedding system? I know it’s not the first choice, because the conventional dairy farmers nearby use sawdust. They say it keeps the cows cleaner than straw. However, straw is more abundant, and fairly inexpensive here, especially for someone who can’t afford the delivery cost of materials from far away. Would you need to use a much larger amount of straw to create a deep bedding system clean enough for three or four dairy cows?

[@rebeccamartorell5776]

I believe it depends on the absorption ability of straw vs shavings. It seems shavings absorb better, but since straw is cheaper, perhaps use a combination. Shavings to absorb the wet and straw to add a layer for the animals. I've also used fir wood pellets before. They fluff up and absorb a lot of moisture.

[@mandabean.2405]

Why do the cows look so skinny? 😢. They are all bones.

[@aramahsann6862]

Agree

[@leig9770]

It's normal. They are probably dairy cows.

[@aramahsann6862]

@@leig9770 I see. Ty for clarifying

[@mandabean.2405]

@leig9770 Thank you! Your information pointed me in the right direction and I learned something new today 😊: Dairy cattle have a body type with a prominent bone structure which means you can often clearly see their hip bones and a few ribs. This is opposed to beef cattle which have a body type predisposed to more muscle and meat coverage over their bones.

[@CkHolly-hz2vv]

@@mandabean.2405 Yes, if you look back at the video, you may only see one dairy cow and the rest are beef. At least that is all I saw 🙂 She is taller and bonier than the shorter, stockier beef cows.

[@FarmhouseKitchen-l1t]

Good job 👏 I adore you guys 👩‍🌾

[@random_canadien3857]

What breed of cows do you have? Are they for meat or dairy? Otherwise, Great job i love your videos. Thank you for educating!!!

[@gracechadi]

thank you for sharing.

[@GROW_YOUTUBE_VIEWS_m109]

The utilization of positive affirmations throughout the video is a wonderful touch. It's a reinforcement of the overarching theme of hope and resilience.