Clean out tray

[pierce652]

Well we got the girls yesterday. An awsome Father's Day on many levels. We wanted 4-5 chickens and ended up being given 9. 5 full grown and 4 small ones that wont start laying for another 2 months. Everyone here was so excited, including the wife...who thought I was nuts at first. Many already have names...Rosie, Beauty, Striper, Blackie, Pig and Chicken. The last two names were given by my 2 year old.

Anyways...I never, ever realized how much these birds poop. This morning, like a strafing line its down the length of the coop. Easy enough to clean up or let them mix it in by walking I suppose. Does anyone have good pics of their clean out try set ups and how do you prevent them from knocking them over?

Or am I better off letting them mix it in and letting it compost. I have at least 4-5 inches of pine litter on the bottom.

 

[CarlaRiggs]

Pine shavings are so dry, that there won't be composting of which to speak. It would be better to clean it out every morning and actually get it in with something 'green' in a compost pile. It will decompose while heating the pile. Even scattering it onto dirt and hoeing it in would be good.
Chicken fertilizer has a high rate of nitrogen which will be helpful in a pile, but too hot for plants as is.

Carla

 

[GallowayFarms]

a 12" wide piece of plywood makes a great clean out shelf under the roosts.

If you put a 1x1" block on the wall and an eye bolt about 12" above the block. You can set the back of the plywood on the block and tie a piece of rope or small chain to an eye bolt on the front of the plywood to hold the shelf under the roost.

I am not sure how you have your roost in your coop. but if you have any questions I can draw you a simple plan.

Good Luck

Nick

 

[birdy_num_nums]

Question from a newbie here: How do you keep your girls from roosting on the clean out tray? Do they just prefer the roost 'sticks' and therefore opt for that over the flat surface of the clean out tray?

Thanks for any insight!

 

[Davaroo]

Question from a newbie here: How do you keep your girls from roosting on the clean out tray? Do they just prefer the roost 'sticks' and therefore opt for that over the flat surface of the clean out tray?

Dropping boards should be only inches below the roosts, so the birds cannot really get at them. If needs be, they should be separated by chicken wire from the roosts.
Another option is to make a dropping pit beneath the roosts, covered by the wire mesh to keep them out of it. This is then mucked out periodically.
A third option I will experiment with this season is to suspend a trough of water beneath the roosts, again separated by wire mesh. Once the water is pooed up, you open a big valve and let the now liquid Poo Juice run out into a bucket.
This is liquid gold for the garden, prediluted and predigested.
Well, that's the theory, anyway. We'll see.​

 

[WoodlandWoman]

The other thing you can do is to just sprinkle a bit of litter over the top as needed during your daily chores and shovel it out when you choose. It keeps it a little tidier, prevents the coop from getting smelly and you can save the clean out for when it's convenient for you.

I keep a container of shavings in the corner, with a feed scoop in it. We have usually used the deep litter method over the years, so I am used to sprinkling a bit of litter over any areas in the coop that need it.

Some people love their dropping boards. Other people have had problems with them being stinky. I wouldn't want to have to scrape it all the time.

Some people also have a sand pit under the roost and use a scooper, small manure fork or a rake to clean it. We all seem to have our own preferences on what we like and what works for us.

I'll be looking forward to hearing how your experiment goes, Elderoo. It sounds pretty fascinating!

 

[funkychicken]

Elderoo...what will you use to keep your poo juice from becomming too stinky between dumps...it sounds like a great idea...

 

[Davaroo]

AS I understand it the water DOESN'T become too stinky. Im assuming that means you dont allow it to go for weeks between "dumps," but rather dump it frequently. Twice a week sounds good.
Perhaps some sort of enzyme preparation would help along these lines, like PDZ or something like that.
What do you think?

 

[funkychicken]

well you would be more apt to know than me(im a new egg) but common sense tells me to dump it often, as you said...I have plenty of questions and you seem to have much wisdom to offer...how about a "ask elderoo" topic...your in box would overflow!!

 

[Dilly]

What about the fleas that come with sand? Isn't that a concern? Has anyone that uses sand noticed any flea problems?