Cleaning poop board from outside

[JakesHappyHenHouse]

Hi everyone. We're building our first coop. I love all the great ideas and information on here. We're planning a small 4x6 foot coop for 4-6 chickens. Plan to access the nesting boxes from the outside on one side. Want to make a poop board under the roosts on the opposite side and was hoping for ideas on cleaning it from the outside. Should I get trays I can easily slide out a wide slot to clean? I like the idea of using PDZ- If we make a poop board with a lip and PDZ can you scoop poop from an opening from the side rather than from inside the coop? There will be a larger "human" door on the end for access for feeding/watering/cleaning, but we're planning on doing the deep litter method. Thanks in advance. Would love photos of your set up if you have something like I'm describing.

 

[igorsMistress]

I'm curious why the poop board with deep litter? The purpose of deep litter is usually to compost the poop in the litter. I have deep litter and just give a stir each morning and wet it down as necessary to encourage it to break down.

I'll be honest, I had poop boards and I hated them. The dust is terrible and they start to smell, in my opinion, because there's always little bits of dried poop left over. Who has time to stand there and sift poop out? Not to mention the expense of pdz.

 

[aart]

Agrees, if you want to do a true composting deep litter, poops boards are contraindicated as much as a raised coop is.
But then putting a poop board in a 4x6 is tight quarters as they are usually 2' wide with one roost centered.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Biggest issue with a pull out tray is designing it so that poop doesn't get squeegeed off the tray by the slot opening/frame as you pull it out. And making it stable enough so that it can be handled without wiggling or wobbling, which would just send poop and substrate flying off.

And yes poop boards + deep litter is contradictory. Are you sure you mean deep litter (an in place composting system) and not deep bedding (as the name implies, just a thick layer of bedding, not meant for composting).