Best Coop Bedding? (No Poop Boards in Coop)

[Folly's place]

@aart , I've forgotten, if you ever mentioned, it, but how many birds do you have?
Right now I'm down to 49, and plan on a few less by winter. Poop scooping daily? No way!
Mary

 

[Pullet Press]

I like to use straw. It can be removed easily (it "weaves" itself), and it'll just degrade (is that the word?) overtime with the chickens scratching it. It's just my opinion.

 

[middle TN Nancy]

I use shredded hemp in the coop and a poop board with PDZ. I sift the board about every 3-4 days - tales 5 minutes - and the poops I fling onto my compost pile. The coop stays completely dry and smells fresh. My covered run is deep litter - leaves, pine needles, straw, hemp, grass clippings, wood chips - whatever I can get my hands on. It’s working well.

 

[aart]

@aart , I've forgotten, if you ever mentioned, it, but how many birds do you have?
Right now I'm down to 49, and plan on a few less by winter. Poop scooping daily? No way!
Mary

I keep about 15-18 over winter, have had more than 30 during spring/summers from hatching.
Not sure I'd scoop for more than 30, but then I also don't have space nor desire for more than 30.
I like the poop boards because:
- it reduces ammonia and moisture, especially during winter.
- it gets the poop somewhere it can be advantageous, my friends compost.
- decreases floor shaving changes and especially the disposal of it.
Works for me, know you don't care for it @Folly's place .

 

[Folly's place]

Maybe if we had a lot fewer birds, and a smaller coop type, but as it is, won't work here.
A good idea in the right situation, i agree.
Mary

 

[aart]

Maybe if we had a lot fewer birds, and a smaller coop type

Well, you don't have to fill up your large coop

 

[WVBirdsAndBees]

We have poop boards with sweet PDZ and then shavings for bedding.

Without the poop boards, I'd just use the shavings and PDZ. But we'd probably have to change out bedding every few weeks opposed to every few months with the boards.

 

[Folly's place]

We like to have about 35 for winter, although now that we have three breeding groups, not two, it's harder. More will have to leave fairly soon though!
Mary

 

[K0k0shka]

I use pine shavings + some PDZ and don't have poop boards. I agree with the people who don't want to scoop chicken poop every day. Even my cat doesn't get daily scoopings, I'm not doing it for some chickens So far I've had no problems. It stays bone dry and there is no smell. Every once in a while (like maybe once a week) I fluff it up and stir it around a bit so the poop falls to the bottom and the shavings rise to the top. I haven't gone through a winter yet with this setup, but it's been through torrential rain and high coastal humidity, and it's still dry. I love it.

 

[ObiHenKanobi]

Has anyone tried covering the bottom of their coop with a thick layer of Sweet PDZ and then using a cat litter scoop with a long handle to clean the poop out?

We are almost done building our coop and while we technically can figure out a way to put a poop board in, since the original plan did not have one, putting a poop board in will take up a lot of real estate and reduce the amount of space the chickens have to move around. The coop is technically walk in and with a long handled cat litter scoop I could reach any corner of it.

I'm attaching some photos of the in-progress coop and would welcome feedback!! @aart @drinkoj