Drop Out floors on coops????

[2dream]

dlhunicorn - thank you so much. What a wonderful idea and the aluminum is free for me. I happen to work at a facility that builds aluminum observatory domes and we have scrap (large pieces) everywhere. Thanks and I will be watching for pics.

 

[Kelly FG]

here are some pics, they were taken when my girls first moved into their coop so their "baby roost" is still there, they have a taller roost now.

There is chicken wire over the poop pit

So most of the poops fit through the wire, the pit is on hinges & has a locking latch under the coop. It drops down & fits into a cement mixing tray, I load all the poop & shavings into the tray & add it to my compost piles. In the winter I do more of a deep litter method & when I clean it next there will be alot of poop stuck to the chicken wire. I have an old wire leaf rake with no handle that I use the scrape the poop off the wire. Even when the coop is really dirty the whole process takes about 15-20 minutes. I sweep all of the shavings into the open poop pit, close it up, add DE & a fresh load of shavings & we are good.

Here's a pic of the outside so you can see how tall it is.

that was before we painted it & that was their baby run too, the run is all different now.

hth

 

[2dream]

Thanks so much Kelly. You have a wonderful setup.
I love it and your coop is a lot like what I have in mind.
Again thanks for the pics. Do you have your coop pics posted on the coop pics section? I don't remember seeing it there. If you don't you really should post there.

 

[SoCal-chick]

Hi, when we built our coop last Summer we raised the coop portion up a few feet to provide more room in the run and shade in the heat. In the coop portion of the building my DH built the floor under the roosts to pivot so that everything falls onto a tarp at cleaning time and is easily transported to the compost bins. The wood platform hinges just off center and easily goes back into place and is held with a bolt on each end. The rest of the floor is chicken wire that I cover with thick landscape fabric then I use pine shavings over the whole thing. The wire is because we are in So. California and need to worry about air circulation more than the cold.

 

[tvtaber]

May I ask why you want to keep the breeds seperate?
Vicki

 

[2dream]

Since I plan to have one rooster with each set of hens I feel it is safer for all concerned plus - I don't want my egg layers mixed with my cornish or my silkies mixed with any of the others. I would like to make sure any fertile eggs hatched remain true to breed. I don't plan on showing any of my chickens but I would like to keep the lines clean.

 

[tvtaber]

Oh gosh yes, that sure makes sense. Your plan seems pretty sound to me, if you can execute it! (we are pretty low-tech at our house)

 

[2dream]

Quote:
Pretty low tech at mine too.
We just have an abundance of building material and both myself and my DH have to have a major project to work on. It seems neither of us is happy unless there is a power tool in our hands. (I personally love the new nail gun).

 

[NYREDS]

Neat idea!
I did something in a similar vein. My breeding pens [bantams only] have removeable fronts which make cleaning much easier than dealing with doors.

 

[Kentucky]

My newly completed 5'x10' coup was designed and built with a pivoting "drop" floor for easy cleaning. The pivot point is supported by two 1"x8" steel pins, however two short sections of plumber's pipe would also work. Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to post a photo here, so if anyone would like a photo, send me your email address.

Kentucky