Coop cleaning

[Peckeruk]

Hi all
Is it possible to sieve wood shaving bedding to remove chicken poo?
If so what size sieve would I need?
Thanks

 

[wamtazlady]

Wood shavings are porous. The shavings themselves will have absorbed the moisture from the poo. If a clean coop is what you want, get rid of it all.

 

[Hokum Coco]

To remove chicken poo what size sieve would I need?

I approached this problem in a slightly different tack.

I have gone with a wire 2" grid (wire the size of a pencil) over my coop floor. Similar to what is pictured below with 4"x4"x4" cubed blocks stationed under neath the grid on top of a tarp to form a drop pit it worked excellent all summer and I will clean the coop before winter sets in and things freeze solid. The grid even keeps your chickens feet cleaner which in turn keeps your eggs and nest boxes less soiled. I live in Canada and am subject to -40º temperatures.

Clean up is simple replace the tarp with a second one. Spread the first tarp out in the sun to bake and dry. Then flex the first tarp over the compost bin and hose off any stubborn chicken poop. I use no bedding on the coop floor.

 

[SueT]

I use a cat litter scoop to scoop out piles of poop from shavings, which are generally only under where each bird roosts. But a wad of shavings comes with it. I have a lot of shavings as DH is a woodworker so I throw out more than I would if I had to buy them....

 

[aart]

Hi all
Is it possible to sieve wood shaving bedding to remove chicken poo?
If so what size sieve would I need?
Thanks

Probably not...shavings and poops are about the same size,
and vary in size so any sized sieve would not get them all.
Exactly what/where/why do you want to do this?

This is how I 'clean'.
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.

-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

-Runs have semi-deep litter, never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.

-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 5 years.

 

[DobieLover]

Probably not...shavings and poops are about the same size,
and vary in size so any sized sieve would not get them all.
Exactly what/where/why do you want to do this?

This is how I 'clean'.
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.

-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

-Runs have semi-deep litter, never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.

-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 5 years.

This is exactly it. Say no more, do no more. Easy peasy.

 

[Acre4Me]

I approached this problem in a slightly different tack.

I have gone with a wire 2" grid (wire the size of a pencil) over my coop floor. Similar to what is pictured below with 4"x4"x4" cubed blocks stationed under neath the grid on top of a tarp to form a drop pit it worked excellent all summer and I will clean the coop before winter sets in and things freeze solid. The grid even keeps your chickens feet cleaner which in turn keeps your eggs and nest boxes less soiled. I live in Canada and am subject to -40º temperatures.

Clean up is simple replace the tarp with a second one. Spread the first tarp out in the sun to bake and dry. Then flex the first tarp over the compost bin and hose off any stubborn chicken poop. I use no bedding on the coop floor.

That sounds interesting! Curious about the 4x4 blocks -assume they would get dirty with poop too. Do you clean those off too? My understanding of your system is: top layer is grid in pic; middle layer is 4x4x4 blocks; bottom layer is tarp covering coop floor. No shavings.

Would seem that the poop would still cause a build up of ammonia to some extent, winter not bad most likely, but any warm weather and it would seem like it would start to smell quite a bit. I’m curious bc it sounds like a good system for keeping poop where you want it and not on eggs.

 

[Hokum Coco]

would still cause a build up of ammonia to some extent,

I thought the same as you but I decided to give a try anyway.
My chickens have an outside run and currently I only have 7 birds. I did have 13 in a 4x8 coop and surprisingly the poop dried out very quickly. Where the poop was dry even when it became layered the ammonia smell was never an issue.
This is a picture of my coop. When the two doors are open there are two inner screen doors that allow plenty of ventilation which also aids in the dissipating of the ammonia smell.