Does anyone not use poop boards?

[Azriel]

I will be building my coop this spring, I designed my coop myself, and am building it with the help of a friend who builds houses. My roosts will be in an area off to the side and I was just going to have sand & pdz under the roosts, then rake and remove poop twice a week. Now I have been reading all the topics about everyone using poop boards, and don't know if my plan will work. Last summer my girls were in a tractor type house that I didn't have to clean, and a large free range type fenced area, but it wasn't very secure and I worried about something eating my girls. This new coop will be a Fort Knox chicken coop.

 

[True Grit]

I quit using one but maybe I didn't have it set up properly or it wasn't big enough. My coop is only 4x4 and at hip height so I just pick up the poop off the shavings every morning. It takes 5 minutes and it is definitely the best used 5 minutes of my day.

That coop is CLEAN.

 

[bethsplace]

i also have a 4x4 coup hip height i use wood shavings and a cat litter scoop no poop board every morning i scoop it out takes about 2 minutes to do both coups the other is 2x4

 

[Nostalchic]

I don't use one, either - it was just the yuckie factor, I think, for me, of seeing, smelling, and scraping/cleaning all that gooey poo, or the hens getting into it if they walk on the board. Some people to use sand or shavings ON the board, which might be better. I just use a fine wood shavings as bedding in my coop, and first thing in the morning (before everything gets all stirred up) I use a "junior" fine-tined manure fork and pick up the poop in the coop -most of it is under the roosts, of course. Takes 5 minutes, my 8x14 coop stays really clean and dry and smells fine.

 

[HHandbasket]

We do not have poop boards, never have, but they would not work with our coop and the way it is designed (it's an open-air coop with deep litter in the bottom). However, that being said, we do have to go out there and scoop up the poop under the roost (that's where it really, really accumulates) into the wheelbarrow & take it over to the compost pile. I actually think it is less work than having to go out, pull out the poop boards, scrape the poo into the compost heap, put them back in the coop...

We use a small shovel to scoop up the poop from the top of the sand/shavings in the floor--as another poster said, takes a couple minutes. Voila! Clean coop.

Our next coop, because of the way it is designed and will not be as much of an open-air coop, is probably going to have poop boards, but maybe not. I recently saw another post somewhere on the forum where the person had an enclosed coop and lined the floor underneath the roosts with newspaper, then covered it with her shavings/bedding. She'd just go out twice a week, roll up the newspaper and shavings, toss 'em into the compost pile, and lay out fresh newspapers and shavings. Personally, I don't have the money to spend on shavings like that, but I think it is a splendid idea.

 

[newchicksnducks]

Quote:
I DO have poop boards, but they only get removed twice a year when we totally remove everything from the coop and power wash it

I use a 5 gallon kitty litter bucket (free) and a large paint scraper. I scrape the board, tossing the poop into the bucket and then empty the bucket into the compost pile. I try to do this every couple of days. It literally takes a couple of minutes

 

[booker81]

No poop boards, just really deep litter, and I toss BOSS and scratch around to get them to dig and fluff the shavings. I put the shavings in last May I think, and they are still nice, not much smell. About once a month I might go in with a 4 tined pitchfork and fluff and flip the shavings all over, and then let the chickens do their work.

Coop is about 10x10, 14 standard sized chickens. I'd say the litter is about 8"+ deep, maybe close to a foot. I plan on taking it all out in a couple weeks when my knee is good enough for labor, dump it in the garden to finish composting for May planting. I'll refill with shavings at that time too. I was really pleased with how it worked.

 

[Qi Chicken]

We do use them too. I agree with the other poster, to work they have to be big enough. The chickens will sit facing forward and backwards so the board has to extend far enough IN FRONT of the roost to catch the poop also. I also use a bucket and a paint scraper. Just scrape it in. No problem. I can't believe how much poop there is on the boards. Even if it is getting dried out by the shavings I wouldn't want that much poop in them. We have 14 chickens and I would say 1 lb of poop a day off the boards? It is A LOT. Also make sure to put the board about a foot beneath the roosts. At first we had them about 5 inches below and they would just walk/sit/sleep on them. Now that we have lowered them no problem. I think it also helps to see problems more quickly. We had a run of cocci early on when they first went outside. If the poop would have been falling directly into the shavings I don't think I would have seen the blood for a long time.

 

[yelim]

How many chickens do you plan on having? More chickens = more to deal with. I have 22 and would not scrap that up every couple of days.
Once a week I open my back horizoal door slide out the poop board titl it down and the poop falls off with a little tapping. Slide it back in and close the door. Put more shavings on board and wait till next week.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

I don't use a poop board. But I only have 3 chickens right now. I plan on adding two more for a total of 5 so I'm not dealing with much poop.

I put down about 3 inches of pine shavings in their house and clean it out once a week into the composter.