Dropping board in cold weather

[Hokum Coco]

What does your dropping board, or similar contraption,

I have 68 trips around the sun for decades I have been raising chickens
For years I have been lining my nest boxes with the folded empty nylon mesh feed bags
It would also work for your dropping board.
When a bag gets soiled pop out the soiled and pop in another. Poop just peels off in below freezing temperatures and just flakes off when left out in the sun to bake and dry. It is the best method I have stumbled upon in my 68 trips around the sun.

Oh! Remove the excess string from the open end of the bag it can get tangled in your birds legs and wings.



I have gone with a wire 2" grid (wire the size of a pencil) over my coop floor. Similar to what is pictured below with 4"x4"x4" cubed blocks stationed under neath the grid on top of a tarp to form a drop pit it worked excellent all summer and I will clean the coop before winter sets in and things freeze solid. The grid even keeps you chickens feet cleaner which in turn keeps your eggs and nest boxes less soiled. I live in Canada and am subject to -40º temperatures.

Clean up is simple replace the tarp with a second one. Spread the first tarp out in the sun to bake and dry. Then flex the first tarp over the compost bin and hose off any stubborn chicken poop.

Easy Peasy Japaneasy.

 

[aart]

For years I have been lining my nest boxes with the folded empty nylon mesh feed bags
It would also work for your dropping board.
When a bag gets soiled pop out the soiled and pop in another. Poop just peels off in below freezing temperatures and just flakes off when left out in the sun to bake and dry. It is the best method I have stumbled upon in my 68 trips around the sun.

Oh! Remove the excess string from the open end of the bag it can get tangled in your birds legs and wings.

That would work....open both ends of bag, slit down the side and get twice the material.
Might even be able to make a hammock(s) out of this material.

 

[AquaDuck]

Thought I'd update this old thread in case someone searches for it. I found a good solution!

It's a mix between a board and a hammock. I realized a tarp hammock would be too brittle to withstand frost and poop so I built an angled board and added a tarp (aka the hammock part) on top. It works really well! I've had it for 2 years, and it's the easiest and cleanest poop board I've ever had.

The board itself is an old table. It's heavy, solid and the surface is smooth. I've fastened a piece of rain gutter at the bottom, as a poop collector.

Just built. The glorious new-coop look!

The tarp is simply stapled at the top of the board and hangs down and over the gutter. Poop accumulates at the bottom and I clean it by removing the tarp from the top and bottom, and carry the whole thing out. It works whether the poop is frozen or not. I reuse the tarp, staple it back on, and replaces it when it gets too dirty.

2 years later. Not as shiny and spotless, but still works perfectly.

 

[aart]

Thanks for the update @the cluck juggler .
Re-stapling seems like it would be a PITA.
How many staples?
How often do you clean it?
How many birds?
Do they ever walk in the trough?
Sorry for all the Q's

 

[AquaDuck]

Thanks for the update @the cluck juggler .
Re-stapling seems like it would be a PITA.
How many staples?
How often do you clean it?
How many birds?
Do they ever walk in the trough?
Sorry for all the Q's

I use 2-4 medium staples into the wall above the board. That's enough, it's never fallen down. Ideally it should have been something reusable, like holes in the tarp and hooks on the wall. But if it works, ya know...
How often I clean it? Not often enough Every 2 weeks, I'd guess, when I see the poop has accumulated. In winter they sit on their perches quite a lot. Got 7 birds in there now (which in chicken math is probably 9...)

I've seen them sit on the edge of the gutter from time to time, usually as a way to jump onto the perches. That's one thing I like about the tilted board compared to a flat one, they can't stand in the poop, or sit underneath the perched birds.

 

[aart]

How often I clean it? Not often enough Every 2 weeks, I'd guess, when I see the poop has accumulated.

<shrugs> as long as it doesn't stink too badly, or is growing flies, not a problem.