Deep litter ending up outside coop

[dclark]

Those silly girls keep kicking the wood shavings out the door!

Gotta raise the door a little to help keep most of it in the coop!

 

[lightchick]

I have the same problem!

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Mine do that too! I'm going to have to put a small strip of wood or something on the chicken door to at least make an attempt to keep some of it inside. Messy little piglets

 

[dclark]

Quote:
That's what I am going to do We have had the deep litter for a couple weeks now. The smell is gone, but come on girls, lets keep it neat!!

 

[iwiw60]

Mine do that too! I'm going to have to put a small strip of wood or something on the chicken door to at least make an attempt to keep some of it inside. Messy little piglets

Yes, you need to put a board across the door opening to help prevent that.............but! Don't use a small strip of wood. Use a 1 x 6 and that should do it.

 

[iwiw60]

Those silly girls keep kicking the wood shavings out the door!

Gotta raise the door a little to help keep most of it in the coop!

Saw your pic of your setup...nice! But I have a suggestion....you need to turn that 2x4 'flat' so they'll more readily use it for roosting. Having that 2x4 'on end' like you have it is very hard on their feet. Birds of your size are pretty hefty gals and keeping their roosting bar(s) flat enables them to not only be more comfortable, but during cold winter months they can literally sit on their feet to help keep warm...just FYI!!

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Yes, you need to put a board across the door opening to help prevent that.............but! Don't use a small strip of wood. Use a 1 x 6 and that should do it.

I have a regular steel door and cut a chicken door out of it. Then I have a wood ramp that folds up to close the chicken door if need be. Unfortunately I don't think a 1x 6 would fit.

 

[dclark]

Saw your pic of your setup...nice! But I have a suggestion....you need to turn that 2x4 'flat' so they'll more readily use it for roosting. Having that 2x4 'on end' like you have it is very hard on their feet. Birds of your size are pretty hefty gals and keeping their roosting bar(s) flat enables them to not only be more comfortable, but during cold winter months they can literally sit on their feet to help keep warm...just FYI!!

Thanks! I can turn those 2x4s that are in the run area. In the coop the roosting bars are 2x2s, and it is an open type coop on one end as you can see in the background. I also have natural branches in the run that they walk all over in the run.
Also having a feather picking issue but there is no one hen that seems to be missing feathers more than any other but there sure are a lot of them around!

 

[iwiw60]

Thanks! I can turn those 2x4s that are in the run area. In the coop the roosting bars are 2x2s, and it is an open type coop on one end as you can see in the background. I also have natural branches in the run that they walk all over in the run.
Also having a feather picking issue but there is no one hen that seems to be missing feathers more than any other but there sure are a lot of them around!

You're quite welcome! That 2x2 in the coop? Either replace it with a small piece of 2x4 laying flat or find a suitable branch. Your coop is pretty dang small for your size flock so to make them as comfortable as possible is paramount....might even have something to do with the pecking that's going on.

Might be time to enlarge the coop....ah, chicken math....drives us all nuts!!

 

[lightchick]

Those silly girls keep kicking the wood shavings out the door!

Gotta raise the door a little to help keep most of it in the coop!

How big is your coop? What x what? How many chickens do you keep in it?