Does anyone NOT use a poop board and wish they had? or...

[Nonny]

I only have 3 chooks, but I put a few sheets on newspaper on the poop board, and every 1 - 2 days I remove the paper and put fresh stuff down. About once a week I'll give the board a clean and lay it in the sun (on the roof of the coop) for a few hours before putting it back in the coop for them with fresh paper.

I find it's a good use of the junkmail I get in the letterbox, and I can just roll up poop with the paper and pop it in a compost bin to decompose.

I also keep a box of 100 disposable rubber gloves in the downstairs laundry so I put one on when I go out to do poop duty and throw it away afterwards.

 

[epeloquin]

I use wood shavings about 3-4" deep and I use poop boards. It takes just a few minutes to scrape the poo into the compost and I also give them a rinse. I have no smell and things stay clean. Happy, happy.

 

[lynn1961]

No poop board for us either. Wood floor and use shredded paper, about 2 to 3 inches thick, scoop it out when it is dirty and put it in the compost bin. Seems to work well, the paper asorbs what it needs to, the chickens keep it scratched around, is easy to scoop out with a flat shovel and it decomposes faster than wood shavings, plus it is free and a good way to recycle. Works good in the garden after it has composted. And I hate cleaning out the chicken house, shredded paper also works in the nest in the place of hay.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:


This is another excellent reason for dropping boards!

I do give a quick glance at the "quality" of droppings on my boards each morning. I don't worm as a preventative, so I'm always looking for signs of worms, notice when they're shedding intest. lining bits, keeping an eye for blood, etc. I think it'd hardly be noticeable if the poo just fell down into the bedding.

 

[GardenWeasel]

Love my poop boards! When I first got my chickens a few years ago I religiously cleaned boards once a week, rain or shine. I have 26 girls and now scrape down the vinyl covered board every few weeks with a old semi window cleaner. Throw on some extra shaving and a little Stay dry or DE in between. My boards are just about the width of an old wastebasket( an accident) that I dump into the wheelbarrow. I use the litter any where I have harvested and won't plant again that year or between wide rows. I love this system. Also like to monitor the droppings for problems.

 

[newchick13]

Quote:
do you have any pics? sounds interesting...

 

[itom37]

I do not have a poop board, and I do not regret it so far. I've got 5 ladies that have occupied their coop for about 3 months, and I haven't cleaned once. No smell, no wetness, no mess. I just add a little pine shavings as needed, but I also haven't gone through even a whole pack of that maybe 2-4 cubic feet, not a huge bag).

Dunno... I guess I'm just amazed at how clean the coop manages to stay with such little maintenance. Perhaps once I do have to clean it out, I will regret the lack of poop boards.

 

[MIKE555444]

No poop board here but I will be using the hinge method on the roost to keep it clean. I work for a wood company and get all the free shavings I want for litter.

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
Hey MIKE555444, nice ladder roost. Check out my BYC page and see how I did my ladder roost-------I rounded off the top ends of the 2X4 and drilled a hole through them to make pivots with carriage bolts and washers. I then hung it from the rafters with chain and used a wire cable and pulley with a counterweight run over the the door to be able to lift the roost out of the way for cleaning, etc.

 

[JackE]

I have a wood floor, Protected by a heavy coat of rubberized roof coat, Covered with a deep bed of pine shavings (Except by the open front, which is sand). I change out the litter twice a year. NO CrapBoards, No regrets.
Jack