Do you think this is a good idea?

[coffeehead11]

I am in the process of designing my coop. I was thinking about instead of a droppings board under the roost, I would stop the solid floor there , and for the two foot space under the roost, I would have a heavy predator proof wire, which would allow the droppings to fall through, to be cleaned from the outside the coop. I thought this would help quite a bit with the ventilation/moisture issues in the winter and would be easier to clean with a flat shovel. What do you chicken experts out there think?


Oops, forgot to say I am in central Missouri. Winter lows rarely below zero.

I have Americauna chickens and plan to get some Lakenvelders.

 

[TipsyDog]

I've seen many coops like that but it would never work here - WAY too cold! Depends - where are you located and what is the low temps in the winter? Also, what type of chickens do you have?

ETA:

 

[teach1rusl]

Sounds like a dropping pit. Type it into the search box and read other threads about them. Many love them!
*Edited to add: Agree with TipD...might not be great if you're in a really cold weather area...imagine the cold draft coming up under the chickens' booties!!

 

[cappy]

Depends on your location. If you have cold winters this may not be a good idea. To much open space to keep in the warmth. In the south it would be OK if the winters don't get too cold. A poo board is not that hard to make or clean.

Ken

 

[patandchickens]

If you are somewhere year-round warm/hot, I hear it works fine (although less than 100% of the poo falls through the screening).

If you are somewhere that gets down to the 40s or lower in wintertime, you will for sure need to close that up for winter, as having a cold breeze blowing up their undercarriage is NOT what chickens need in the way of ventilation

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[coffeehead11]

Too cold huh? Rats! I was hoping to avoid having to deal with a poo board. Has anyone ever tried to have one that could be removed from the outside for cleaning, perhaps on rollers like a drawer? Hmmm....

 

[davony's chicks]

Coffee... I live in central missouri too and it is too cold.. brrrrr
I dont use a poo board,, i just use a flat shovel to scrap it out and it is work. The roller idea sounds like a good idea.

good luck!

 

[chookchick]

I don't see why you couldn't use flat trays (like cookie trays

), and put them on a shelf side by side. Then you could have narrow doors on the outside that lock, and slide the trays out to empty/clean them. I've seen setups like that here, but it's been awhile and I can't recall any of the details. Is your coop small and not easily accessible, or would you rather not go inside? Don't use screen, it just makes a bigger mess to clean.
Oh I remember, one used cafeteria trays (like they use in schools), but they weren't cheap. Another idea is the concrete mixing boxes, then fill those with Stall Dry.

 

[gsim]

Pat nailed it coffeehead. It would be great in warmer weather tho. I would go as far as to say do a poop board at the bottom of the hole and one that is easily pulled daily for scraping. In cold weather, drop a piece of plywood into the space and place a poop plank above that, just below roosts where can be easily reached. A couple of 228" long 2x4's will serve as arms to set it on.

I did mine with 1/2"OSB sheathing 24" wide and glued linoleum over that. Slick and does not soak up odors or bacteria. Here is the thing about a poop plank: It does not have to be washed daily. It does have to be well-scraped daily tho. Yes, it will streak and smear somewhat

but that quickly dries and then is not stinky. I have been using that on my flock of 24 pullets for months now and I can tell you that litter is only going to have to be changed once a year in my coop. I do have 4 windows and always open at least two of them every morning before my scraping chore.

That comes even before morning filling of the feed trough.

I am planning to upgrade to sheet metal for my poop planks. Even easier to scrape.

 

[CoopCrazy]

You could use a under the bed rubbermaid container .. My folks have some that are quite big and have rollers... http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61zlSlIxyvL._SL500_AA280_.gif