Which litter, how deep?

Material	Advantages	Precautions
White wood shavings	Absorbent, loose, easy to find near joinery workshops	Never treated or painted wood; no fine sawdust (dust, ingestion)
Rice husks	Dry, light, does not pack down, cheap in rice-growing areas	Check that it is clean and dry; chicks peck at it in the first days (trays and paper essential)
Chopped straw, crushed maize cobs	Available in crop-growing areas	Pack down and go mouldy quickly; to be watched closely

Depth: 5 to 10 cm, more (8 to 10 cm) on an earth floor or in the rainy season. Litter that is too thin is cold and gets wet quickly; too thick, it heats up and ferments. It is laid on a clean, disinfected and dry floor, after airing it if it smells musty.

The hand test and the nose test

Take a handful of litter and squeeze it: it must crumble when you open your hand. If it stays in a ball, it is too damp. If it is dusty and flies about, it is too dry (rare here, except during the harmattan: you can then sprinkle it very lightly).

Crouch down to the birds’ height and breathe in: if the ammonia stings your nose or eyes, the birds, who live in it, breathe it all day long. Ammonia damages the airways and opens the door to disease. Response: wet litter removed, dry litter added, ventilation increased.

Every day, every week

Every day: remove wet or caked patches (around the drinkers, under roof leaks, in the corners) and replace them with dry litter. Check the drinkers: wet litter almost always comes from them.
Every week: turn the litter with a fork in the areas that pack down, to break the crust and aerate it. Add a thin layer of new litter if it is getting thin.
Ventilate: litter stays dry if the air circulates. Curtains open during the hot hours, ridge open.
Watch the feet: black or burnt feet (pododermatitis) are the sign of litter that has been damp for several days.

Rainy season and end of flock

In the rainy season, everything works against the litter: humidity in the air, driving rain, a leaking roof, water rising from the ground. Responses: thicker litter, curtains lowered on the windward side, drainage channels cleared, a stock of dry litter under cover, and an inspection after every storm.

At the end of the flock, the used litter is taken entirely out of the house (never reused, for a beginner), far from the birds. Composted for a few weeks, it is an excellent fertiliser that market gardeners buy: one more source of income. The empty house is then cleaned and disinfected (lesson 9).

For the entrepreneur

›A stock of dry litter under cover is your insurance for the rainy season: buy it before the rains, not during them.
›Ask the technician to do the hand test in front of you once a week: litter that stays in a ball is a problem that is already costing money.
›Used litter can be sold or composted: do not let it pile up against the house, where it attracts flies and germs.

For the technician

›Wet patches removed every day; drinkers adjusted; dry litter added; weekly turning.
›Hand and nose test every morning at bird height; ventilation adjusted.
›After every storm: roof, curtains, drainage channels, corners of the house.

The 3 questions to ask your technician this week

Does the litter crumble in the hand this morning, and can we smell ammonia at bird height?
How much dry litter do we have in stock under cover, for how many days of rain?
Are there any blackened or burnt feet in the flock this week?

Key points

•White wood shavings or rice husks, 5 to 10 cm, on a dry, disinfected floor; never fine sawdust or treated wood.
•Hand test: the litter must crumble; nose test: stinging ammonia = act.
•Every day, the wet patches come out; every week, you turn and top up.
•Blackened feet = litter damp for days.
•Rainy season: thicker litter, curtains, drainage channels, dry stock; end of flock: litter taken out, composted, sold.

Litter: depth, moisture, turning