Chicken Litterbox - AKA my new roost

[cyanne]

Quote:
Havent read all the remarks so don't know if anyone addressed this.

#1. what a wonderful idea!!!

#2. (pardon

) This would be a great way for small time composters to take advantage of some chickie-poo. Throw a lil hay in there and maybe change it a little less often than you are planning, and there ya go

hope you don't mind if I steal your idea...

Interesting that you brought up the composting idea. I have an organic veggie garden, and next to my greenhouse I built a pair of compost bins. The original plan for the chickens was to add their poo into the compost, but it has been difficult to 'harvest' the poo from their coop and run without also taking a ton of wood shavings.

The very first time I cleaned this new roost, I used a cat litter scooper and was able to remove just the poo from the pan, leaving the clean stall-dri behind. I 'harvested' a whole big bucket full of poo that was already dry and non-smelly and dumped it into my compost pile. Perfect!

 

[Hobbley_Farm]

I have to admit that I have NO idea what stall dri is. But if you say you can scoop the poop and leave it behind...then that's what I'll do! Can I get it at Tractor Supply?

 

[cyanne]

Yep, that's where I buy mine. They probably have it at other feed stores too. It looks just like clumping kitty litter...though it does not clump and it doesn't smell like kitty litter does.

It's a mixture of DE and clay. I also sprinkle it in with the shavings on the floor of my coop and onto the dirt in my run. Keeps things dry and cuts down on smell and flies.

When I built the roost I was thinking about what I could use so that it would be easy to clean the poo out of those trays...didn't want to be scraping and hosing every week and didn't want to create a nursery for flies. Thought about shavings, kitty litter, etc...before I was like "Duh! Stall-dri!"

I already had the stuff around and it is cheap so I figured I would give it a try. It works GREAT.

Now if I could somehow train them to ONLY poo into those trays all day instead of on the floor of the coop, the run, and my yard!

 

[seminolewind]

Cyanne, I went out today and took down my "ladder" roost, too much fighting for that top spot for one. I rebuilt a roost 8 feet long and 4 feet wide, bars spaced 14 inches apart and all the same height. They're all going to love the extra space. Great idea and it looks real cool.

 

[mom4morecritters]

I use those same containers under my roosts. I have two side-by-side. I hadn't thought about putting anything IN the containers, other than what the chickens contribute.

I have no idea what stall dri is, but I plan to find out today whether I can buy it at the same feed/fleet place I buy all my other chicken stuff!

Thanks for the great idea! Fabulous Roosts!

 

[kristenm1975]

I'm in love with this idea and design! Would you explain a little about the steps to building it though? I'm a knitter, not a builder, so I need all the help I can get.

If you could list your supplies too that would be amazing.

Good luck with the move, btw!

 

[cyanne]

Quote:
Hmm, let's see...we started out with a bunch of scrap 2 by 4's. We measured the edge around the tub and built two 3-sided rectangles that allowed the tub to hang inside by the 'lip' around its edge (one for the upper level and one for the lower level.

We attached these to four legs. Everything was put together with 2 inch screws except for the roosts which were 1 by 2 boards put together with tiny nails. That was pretty much it...no advanced carpentry skills required.

The roosts themselves are just two parallel 1 by 2's crossed by 4 more 1 by 2s spaced evenly apart. The top set of roosts is actually not attached so you can lift the roosts right off to get to the tub for cleaning.

 

[lizard7]

I am so happy with my litterbox roost. Mine is modified and much smaller, only 3 small hens to deal with, but it works so well. It keeps down on the cleaning I have to do in the coop and keeps the bad smells to a minimum, and the girls love it too. Thanks again for the great idea and keep them coming, will ya!?!

 

[Clay In Iowa]

Fantastic idea for limited space. Well done!

 

[cyanne]

Sorry to take so long to reply, the hubby and I have been on vacation all last week and I was unable to log on...well, there were computers on the cruise ship, but it cost an arm and a leg to use them so I decided to abstain from BYC during my vacation!

Anywho, I am glad to hear that my humble little chicken roost design has worked out for others with limited coop space and time to clean.

I have had mine in storage since we moved to our new house, but I am planning on using it in the banty coop and building a newer version for my standard birds. So far my idea involves building a long tray out of wood along one wall to hold a couple of inches of stall-dri, and then mounting the new roosts up above.

Will post an update with pics of the final design for those.