Poop board convert *warning-graphic/gross poop pictures* - Page 39

I just have to chime and and thank the OP for this thread.  I have done this and now that I have finally gotten about half of my feather heads to roost this has made a HUGE difference.  There is almost no smell and things are nice and clean.  Now if I could just get them to stop dumping over the water and soaking the shavings!!!!

 

"I'm brand new.....I'm building a very small coop for 4-5 hens. Tell me more about Sweet PDZ. Is it like sand that you use as litter? Sorry to be dumb....I'm on a pretty big learning curb!" quoted

Re- read this whole thread and play close attention to the pictures. Quite a few people have arranged the poop deck over the nesting boxes to great effect on saving space and making the coop that much easier to clean, it's what I'm wanting in the big coop we are building. The Sweet PDZ stall fresher is granulated or powered zeolite used like kitty litter (except you don't throw it all out, just scoop-can be used with for cats), it brakes down the ammonia gas on contact, is safe for animals and is safe to compost. I wear a dusting mask to clean the coop, gather eggs, refill dishes, and scoop the PDZ--my chores take no more than 10 minutes most days and 30 minutes a weekend to rake over, pull back, add DE, change out the nest materials and DE, scrub feeders and waters for all the animals, leave in the sun to dry and a final sprinkle of PDZ to top dress the deep litter. this product should shorten your learning curve as far as housing and cleaning goes.

Edited by amenfarm - 7/20/12 at 1:50pm

Newbie here too.  After reading this thread, I filled the bottom of our small coop with about 3" of Sweet PDZ and a sprinkling of Diatomaceous earth and use a reptile litter scooper to sift the poop out every few days. So far it has left the coop odor free and it takes just a few minutes to clean. The large coop kit should be arriving next week and I plan to install poop boards around the perimeter with a brooding area, nest boxes as well as some storage beneath them to maximize space, so we'll probably use shavings with some of the PDZ and DE mixed in for the main floor. If it were smaller, I might consider using the PDZ/DE mixture straight up. It works really well and our chickens seem to like it. Thanks for a great thread!

I started using sweet PDZ granular in my brooder when my chicks were 2 weeks old. I got tired of cleaning the pine shavings from the water.
I liked how easy it is to clean the PDZ and there was no more shavings to clean out of the water.

The chicks were freaking out when they were first introduced to it. A lot of peeping and running around. They eventually got use to it in a couple of hours.

The only thing I would recommend is to have your brooder outside, because there will be a lot of dust. A couple days after I changed to PDZ the chicks started to dust bathe. The brooder was in an extra bedroom that is being used for storage, so I had to move them out and dust/clean everything.....

I love this coop design we have been looking at ideas for a nice coop. How many chickens do you think would be comfortable in this one?

You need some chicken nipples for the water thing. Another useful idea that I converted to this year and it is a gift from heaven......Here is a site that explains them http://www.avianaquamiser.com/chickennipple/

They charge 30.00 for 3 of them (crazy!!!)

I have them for 2.00 each plus shipping (I ordered a hundred for our group in east, TN from the manufacturer directly and still have some left)

Edited by bairo - 7/16/12 at 1:24pm

Hello!  I'm a newbie who found your pics when I did the web search.  I know it's been awhile but I have two questions.   Are heavier breed birds (like my Orpies) able to fly up to the height of your roost without problem?

 

AndI bought some plastic nest boxes not quite the same as the one shown to the side of your 6 in the pic...and I was wondering if my Orpies would find the entry hole too small????

 

I LOVE your set-up. It's got me re-thinking,   

 

Thanks!
 

I don't remember if this has been covered, but sweetPDZ has a website and it comes in two forms: granules and powder. I like the powder myself.

My coop is a emergency put together and has only 1 solid wall--I think the powered form wouldn't work for me-but I'll never know-TSC only carries the granulated. I think if my husband had not build the coop with so much wire we would have had deaths from the intense heat. Thank-you Lord for the rain!!

Been building a used pallet coop - almost complete.  Here's the start of what will end up being a "L"-shaped poop tray extending a total of about 16 feet - 10' across the rear wall and 6 ' across the adjoining side wall:

 

 

 

Half a used pallet - about 22" wide - will be two placed end-to-end for the rear wall of the coop, and one place on the "L" for the end wall.  There will be roosts above, pretty much centered - the roosts are already in:  Just trying to figure out whether the rough pallet plamks will suffice in holding the contents, or if I should pick up some used formica or maybe a shower wall to lay in the bottom of the finished tray...Will probably remove those 3 crossbars as well, so the kids don't roost there, with their business ends pointing the wrong way.

 

The bottom of poop tray will be even with the top of the nesting box (shown) - that puts the roost about 10" above the tray...in theory...That's the short wall pictured above.

This is the rear wall - the 2x4 roosts are removable for cleaning, but securely in place (I'll show how in my coop completion post the next few days.  The used stepladder is the ladder for the kids to get up to the roosts - still need to attach it to the roost to keep it from slipping and falling.  If I figured this right, the poop tray will be centered below the roosts, and will be filled with pine shavings, PDZ and DE.