Chickens, landscaping....and why does there have to be so much poop?!

[phaethona]

I can relate

my lot is about 1/2ish acre, and we have 11 hens, my yard is Poop Central

I love having my chickens, I just wish I could keep them off my patio...

 

[karimw]

HMMM... this thread makes me glad I have 10 acres and the chickens are on the far side of the property from my house. I was thinking it might be fun to have a summer coop closer to the house next year so we could watch chick TV more easily, but maybe I'll just leave them in the pasture!

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

"Scooping Poop is Thera-pootic!"

Somebody wrote that here a while back. I got one of those Petco dog poop dust-pans with a little scraper, not a rake. It is my new meditation, scooping poop off the stairs and driveway. I feel like its healthier than sitting with knitting, and it gives me the blessed chance to be out in the sun. The pole is waist high, so I don't have to stoop. For me, who works 12 hour shifts, getting outside every other day or after my 3-day workin'-weekend, its kind of a treat. With ALL the kids in school, a hawk to watch for and 2-3 days' worth of "deposits", I find myself spending more time out there than I have to. Really, all the poops are cleaned up in less than 5 minutes, but I admit I hunt around for longer, pacing, breathing, talking with the chickens. Its a break from the real world.

Plus, I've learned how to compost it. Turning that compost heap smells like heaven. Especially with orange peels and corn husks from this summer...............and every morning I dump the half glass of pinot noir I hadn't finished the night before in there, too. In a perfect world, the chickens would have to live ON a compost heap.

Now if you find me scooping the poop and mumbling to myself, "mine...........mine..........mine............" you know what I'm up to. I have big plans for adding "Blue Girl" hybrid tea roses in the spring...............

 

[PatS]

We got a slew of those wide plastic putty spreaders from the hardware store. (You know, to flatten the joint compound when you're working with sheetrock.) We have them outside each door and around their coop and run and use them to scrape off the poop. It is a little embarrassing how much poop a few birds can produce. I have to admit, hosing off all the porches and decks every day got old. Now we scrape when we go out and hose every couple of days (or when someone is coming over).

The people we know think it is funny when they drive past and see the chickens and turkeys on the porch, "knocking at the door." If they saw the poop, they wouldn't think it was so funny. Wouldn't go back to no chickens though.

We fence around our gardens to keep them out. It also keeps out other things that can disturb a garden.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Quote:
Oh Yeah! Those plastic putty shovels are great for the waist-high doo! Let it get dry, like plaster. Then bother to scrape it away.

I used to squirt a few drops of Dawn onto our concrete porch and scrub with an attachment (I think its a boat washer) to the hose. Now I use the different scents of Mrs Meyers' dish soap, it rinses away better and man does it smell nice! But I only have extra time for that every few weeks.

Maybe if I was on this computer less, I would bother to put up better fences so they couldn't poop everywhere............... But for our grass, it is greatly improved from their foraging and pooping in it. Really. Greenest lushest grass we've ever had.