[Stereo]

We've recently used Salatin style tractors to rear our birds on fresh grass. No health issues and away from wild birds totally as well. I like this system but it is quite labour intensive. This year I will have something like 15 of these tractors and even with auto drinkers etc, it's becoming pretty major. Plus side is that the grass gets a massive boost as they pass over it and I believe the constant access to fresh forage is very good for the growers.

Alternative is fixed pens and deep litter I guess. I'm now thinking that if I built such a system, I could also house my pure breed flocks in there over winter as I think we are going to have more issues with Flu in the future.

What are the cons of raising birds only on litter?

[Alex_]

I use deep litter on a small scale for chickens and ducks.
It works well for chickens  as they scrape the ground and mix it well. Although if uncovered when it rains it absorbs a lot of water and it's less pleasant for the birds. With the Chickens you can get hard balls of poop, mud and bedding around each toe and it can be bad for the bird.

I had to wash my chickens feet and slowly work them off. this led me to start free ranging them more in the garden and locking them away in the deep litter pen at night or when I didn't want them out wondering because I was working on something.


With ducks because they don't scrape and claw the ground I find you have to move the bedding more.

 

[Marches Farmer]

By deep liter do you mean the US system where they go onto deep bedding and then a thin layer is added daily, to encourage them to scratch the bedding around regularly?  I overwinter my breeding birds in concrete pens under cover and use a fairly thin layer of shavings, cleaning it out completely and rebedding as soon as it's about one third droppings.  The pens are well ventilated but this helps keep the atmosphere dry and I hope keeps the likelihood of coccidiosis, etc., down.