Care and feeding of your deep litter

We use hay for our top layer of bedding all the time, just because we have it on hand. It works fine, and the chickens love it. However, it does indeed pack together pretty good, which makes it a little harder to remove later.

How deep is deep litter?  We have a small second coop that is only 8x10 feet.  I have put 3 bags of horse bedding pellets a bale of peatmoss and 2 good sized wheel barrows of shavings in there.  Planning to top it off with a pile of straw.  With out the straw the bedding is almost a foot deep.  Is that deep enough or should I add more?  The floor is dirt.

I started with about a foot and a half of fresh chips, peat and straw. It composted and packed down to less than half a foot within a year. I think the key into keep adding as it packs down.

My coop is really DRY. So far, I only have shavings and the dirt floor in there.

With horse stalls, I would just sprinkle water to keep the dust down - I am assuming I can do the same here?

Authentic, you could also use a little vinegar if the coop has an odor of ammonia. When I had my rabbis inside I had manure pits under them. I would pour straight vinegar into the pits to neutralize the urine.

Nope, no odour yet. Not enough chickens in there I guess! my ventilation is the shiz.

Our silly birds (well the blue/black/splash ones) are afraid of the new deep straw!  They were all huddled together outside in a corner....SCARY straw! The Buffs had all gone in, had a good scratch around in the straw and went to bed for the night.