Great article for this novice! I worry too much about “space”!
I thought I’d mention this because it’s made my life so much easier. I have gravel under the roost bars and then I cut some fiberglass screen (window screen material) and cover the gravel with the screen. Gravel is changed out periodically. Cleaning out the poop is now just a matter of picking up the four corners of the screen and shaking out the poop in the woods. I have several sheets of screen and just rotate them as needed. The others, I let sit in the woods and they are cleaned off by rain for another day. The chickens have never been interested in the screen material and their coop doesn’t smell! I suppose I should mention that I only have 6 birds and I’m not sure how practical this idea may be for a larger coop.
I thought I’d mention this because it’s made my life so much easier. I have gravel under the roost bars and then I cut some fiberglass screen (window screen material) and cover the gravel with the screen. Gravel is changed out periodically. Cleaning out the poop is now just a matter of picking up the four corners of the screen and shaking out the poop in the woods. I have several sheets of screen and just rotate them as needed. The others, I let sit in the woods and they are cleaned off by rain for another day. The chickens have never been interested in the screen material and their coop doesn’t smell! I suppose I should mention that I only have 6 birds and I’m not sure how practical this idea may be for a larger coop.