Chicken poo frozen to my hens!

[ILoveChickensAWholeLot]

So my chickens love sleeping where they're not supposed to. They always sleep on top of a box we built for the food and waterers. I've tried to train them out of it but it doesnt seem to work, I've had no problems until today so I let them be. They poop up there and since it's winter it's begining to freeze so I can't scrape it off like I was when it was warmer. Now today I went out to check on them and I noticed that there was poop on one of my chickens, I tried to lightly take it off, but it was frozen and I didn't want to hurt her so I stopped and came here. I have no idea what to do and this hasn't happened before, granted this is their first winter in the coop. Any help is greatly appreciated in advance!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It will eventually fall off, if not, then cut it off.

To keep them off the top of the box, add a slanted steep roof - problem solved.
Photos of the inside of your coop may help - roosting bars?

 

[ILoveChickensAWholeLot]

Here is what the inside looks like

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Here is what the inside looks like

Top of boxes can be placed at an angle so they don't sleep on top.
Roosting bars look fairly steep to me, place one long bar all the way across instead of having a ladder.

For poop scraping year round, a putty knife works very well. I have a few of them, last one I got I found at Harbor Freight, has a nice handle and is wide.

View attachment 2521570

 

[ILoveChickensAWholeLot]

Top of boxes can be placed at an angle so they don't sleep on top.
Roosting bars look fairly steep to me, place one long bar all the way across instead of having a ladder.

For poop scraping year round, a putty knife works very well. I have a few of them, last one I got I found at Harbor Freight, has a nice handle and is wide.

View attachment 2521570

Sorry, but could you explain what you mean by steep?

also, I'm not quite sure how id put a bar across the wall, is there a way to keep the ladder, but just adjust the way it is done? I know other people use the ladder method for their coops, but Im not sure if i did it the most effective way.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry, but could you explain what you mean by steep?

also, I'm not quite sure how id put a bar across the wall, is there a way to keep the ladder, but just adjust the way it is done? I know other people use the ladder method for their coops, but Im not sure if i did it the most effective way.

If the hens are not using the ladder, then take it out and place a single bar in there for them to roost on. There's not a lot of room for the birds to jump down off the ladder if they roosted all the way up.

I understand that other people use ladders. I have one in my coop. My coop is also 12' long so the birds have about 8' of landing space when they fly down. To be honest, if I ever re-did my coop or built another, I would use a ladder.

 

[ILoveChickensAWholeLot]

If the hens are not using the ladder, then take it out and place a single bar in there for them to roost on. There's not a lot of room for the birds to jump down off the ladder if they roosted all the way up.

I understand that other people use ladders. I have one in my coop. My coop is also 12' long so the birds have about 8' of landing space when they fly down. To be honest, if I ever re-did my coop or built another, I would use a ladder.

View attachment 2521584

Ok, thank you for all the help I'm kind of new at this. Hopefully, just one last question, Would it be bad to embrace the fact that they sleep on top of those boxes and just put some wood in between them? also if I put a roosting bar on the wall, instead of in between the boxes, how should I stop them from just pooping all over it and getting covered again?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ok, thank you for all the help I'm kind of new at this. Hopefully, just one last question, Would it be bad to embrace the fact that they sleep on top of those boxes and just put some wood in between them? also if I put a roosting bar on the wall, instead of in between the boxes, how should I stop them from just pooping all over it and getting covered again?

I'm not sure if I follow your question.
Do you mean putting a bar on top of the boxes that house the food and water? If you did that, then they would be walking in poop to get to the food/water and falling poop from the roost might get in the food/water stations too.

Run a bar from one wall to the other (from the back opening wall to the pop door wall). Droppings will fall into the bedding, then you can rake those up as needed.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh. And I think all of us have been new to this. I still few new at times. There's no one specific way to keep chickens, we all have different set-ups, breeds, goals, etc. I try to learn something new everyday.

Your BO's are lovely ladies, so I do hope you are enjoying them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Would it be bad to embrace the fact that they sleep on top of those boxes

Considering your current issue, yes.

A slanted top, like 45 degrees, would go a long way in keeping them off of that area. For example my nest box lid is 45 degrees and yes I've seen a bird try to land on it and slowwwly slide off:



And by "steep" compare how your laddered roosts line up with mine. Note that birds on the top bar can't poop on birds on the bottom due to how I have mine angled out (again I aimed for 45 degree slant in the supports). In your set up, any bird below the top roost can get pooped on by the others, so they will not want to use it: