Deep litter

Deep litter is an animal housing system, based on the repeated spreading of straw or sawdust material in indoor booths. An initial layer of litter is spread for the animals to use for bedding material and to defecate in, and as the litter is soiled, new layers of litter are continuously added by the farmer. In this fashion, a deep litter bedding can build up to depths of 1–2 meters. "The usual procedure for built-up floor litter is to start with about 4 inches of fine litter material with additions of 1 to 2 inches later as needed without removal of the old. A depth of 6 to 12 inches is maintained by partial removals from time to time." (Plamondon) Many consider this to be a naturalremoving the waste, good microbes come and make their homes in the litter. These microbes actually eat and break down the feces and consume unhealthy bacteria, leaving good bacteria behind." (Natural Chicken Keeping)

Benefits 
Numerous benefits have been discovered with the use of the deep litter system, also called the “build-up method”. One is the increased ability of poultry to fight off coccidia, common bacteria responsible for an average of a 20% death rate of poultry.  New studies in Ohio have shown death rates from coccidia as low as 2.9%. As many as 6 successive broods of chicks have been raised on the same litter, each brood showing better results. Chickens raised in this environment have also been less inclined to show cannibalistic traits. (Plamondon)

Many studies have been