Poop Boards.... Scraping or PDZ.

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Theegoliath

Theegoliath

Songster
5 Years
Aug 21, 2014
131
54
126
Silverdale, Washington
My Coop
My Coop
So, I could say I saw this coming, but I was testing how long it would last before my construction ocd kicked in. Using linoleum has been working, but its time to replace it with something better. Laminate.

I used linoleum on our poop board, because its what "everyone was using". Well, after six months of scraping most every day, it finally tore, and is driving me crazy. I stripped off the linoleum and am putting laminate on our poop board. Why?

1. Perfectly hard suface. The drywall scraper wont cut, scratch, rip it.
2. Perfectly smooth. Making it easier to scrap with no textured contour to hold poop in.
3. Durable. Linoleum is plastic covering paper basically, it tears easily. Esspecially when wet. Laminate is far more durable then linoleum, and water has no effect on it. Which is why it is the cheepest material used on kitchen counters.

Thus, a large drywall scraper scraping poop on a laminate covered poop board is ideal, and will not get damaged over time.

1000

1000


The scraper I use daily.
1000


PDZ. Since posting our coop, and taking second place in the 2014 coop contest, countless people have mentioned pdz to me. I completely understand the point of it. We have cats that use a littler box. So why not use pdz you ask? It costs money. Scrapeing poop is free.
 
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It does cost a little money. However, I've had my poop board in place since April and have only added PDZ a few times - I'm only on my second bag. I always figure in the cost of my time as well as materials when I'm planning something major like coop building, so it's worth it to me to save that time. I also live in an area of the country with severe weather in the winter (Northern Wyoming near Yellowstone Park) so I don't want the added humidity by having the poop of 10 chickens sitting on a non-porous surface overnight. After all, until it freezes it's damp.

Off topic, but I loved living in Silverdale! Made the turn out of my driveway and beheld splendor every morning!
 
Theegoliath said:
So, I could say I saw this coming, but I was testing how long it would last before my construction ocd kicked in. Using linoleum has been working, but its time to replace it with something better. Laminate.

I used linoleum on our poop board, because its what "everyone was using". Well, after six months of scraping most every day, it finally tore, and is driving me crazy. I stripped off the linoleum and am putting laminate on our poop board. Why?

1. Perfectly hard suface. The drywall scraper wont cut, scratch, rip it.
2. Perfectly smooth. Making it easier to scrap with no textured contour to hold poop in.
3. Durable. Linoleum is plastic covering paper basically, it tears easily. Esspecially when wet. Laminate is far more durable then linoleum, and water has no effect on it. Which is why it is the cheepest material used on kitchen counters.

Thus, a large drywall scraper scraping poop on a laminate covered poop board is ideal, and will not get damaged over time.

As soon as my conversion is done, I will be posting pictures, and updating my coops page. I have redone our poop board/roostarea entirely.

PDZ. Since posting our coop, and taking second place in the 2014 coop contest, countless people have mentioned pdz to me. I completely understand the point of it. We have cats that use a littler box. So why not use pdz you ask? It costs money. Scrapeing poop is free.
Click to expand...
What you probably used was vinyl, not linoleum.

But yes, the paper backed vinyl sheet flooring is pretty wimpy, it'll break when you bend it....why I bought the heavier foam backed vinyl for both coop floor(so I could bend it up the walls a ways) and roost boards(also bent up the 1 1/2" sides), tho even that probably wouldn't hold up to aggressive scraping with something as sharp as a dry wall scraper.

Which is where the PDZ helps as it prevents most the poops from sticking to what ever substrate you do use on your roost boards...and it only takes about a half inch depths worth to do the trick. Probably takes no longer to sift the poops out that it would to scrap them off....plus the reduction in stink in the summer and humidity in the winter is well worth the little extra time and cost. You can also mix the PDZ with sand (1:3-4) to cut costs further.

I use a plain old garden hoe(with the handle cut down to 14 inches) to manipulate stuff into the sifter and to carefully scrape up anything that does stick. This technique has held up well for just over a year now.
 
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There is also the thick vynil with the cloth hatch work, but i cant remember what its called. Its more durable then the paper linoleum as well. But since I am cheep, and our coop didnt smell this summer, the laminate board is amazing. Food and scratch is all we buy for our girls, who free range, all day, everyday. They only get locked up at night.

Its so nice they put them selves to bed : )
 
Linoleum is actually a completely different material from vinyl. It is thick, hard and incredibly sturdy. One can use it for floor covering or to cut stamps out of. True linoleum makes a fantastic floor - vinyl does not.
 
Stephine said:
Linoleum is actually a completely different material from vinyl. It is thick, hard and incredibly sturdy. One can use it for floor covering or to cut stamps out of. True linoleum makes a fantastic floor - vinyl does not.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's been pointed out in post #4...common error, drives me nuts.
 
Blooie said:
It does cost a little money. However, I've had my poop board in place since April and have only added PDZ a few times - I'm only on my second bag. I always figure in the cost of my time as well as materials when I'm planning something major like coop building, so it's worth it to me to save that time. I also live in an area of the country with severe weather in the winter (Northern Wyoming near Yellowstone Park) so I don't want the added humidity by having the poop of 10 chickens sitting on a non-porous surface overnight. After all, until it freezes it's damp.

Off topic, but I loved living in Silverdale! Made the turn out of my driveway and beheld splendor every morning!
Click to expand...
Do you have any problems with chickens eating the PDZ
 

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