external access to droppings/poop board

We are going to update ours. We do have double doors for access, which is nice. Our poo board is stationary. The update we have planned is switching from a wood board to a remnant piece of counter top. I originally was thinking of using laminate to cover it, but it just didn't happen because cold weather set in and we turned into sissies. I'm glad we didn't because the edges of the laminate would have curled up unless we nailed it down. That would have been a lot of nails for poo to get stuck in. I'm not too excited about using adhesives in there. Not so sure they would hold up through Winter's freeze/thaw cycles anyway.

One word of advise is to not have any nails, screws or any other anything that will create a ridge or divot on the poo board. It makes for a bugger of a time cleaning. Smooth as possible is good. Try to attach supports on the bottoms of the boards. The bottom of our poo board happens to be the top of the boxes.

I see you're liking the idea of having the poo board so it can be pulled out. It only takes a few seconds to scrap it off (as long as you clean it off daily, or even every other day). Would pulling it out create more work than you need? Personally, I wouldn't want to grab a hold of a poo laden board that may have poo fall off of in the process for me to have to also clean up the floor. I'm not sure of your design, but that's what pops into my head when I envision it.

Best of luck!

 

Just my opinion...it isn't worth the extra work of construction. When I clean the droppings tray, I also spot check everything inside the coop anyway, and scoop up any stray poo, check the waterer, etc. But I designed my coop with one wall that opens up completely, so getting in there to clean things out is very easy (as well as simple to construct ...one wall is just a double door).

 

I imagine a pull-out dropping board would be similar to a simple drawer without the sides... So you cut a hole in the outside wall (made of plywood I assume) that is, let's say, 4" tall by 3' wide. Save the piece you cut out, attach a handle to the outside (this should now look like the front of a drawer and fit perfectly flush into the wall of your coop). Attach the poop board on the inside bottom of your "drawer" front. This will allow enough clearance over the top of the board to prevent you scraping the poop off on the inside wall of the coop. Make sure you have slides/guides on the inside of the coop under (and maybe over, too?) the poop board on both sides/edges.

 

Here is ours. I don't think it was all that difficult to construct. We kept it simple and fully replaceable. It measures 24 inches wide by 45 inches long and only about an inch and a half deep with cheap vinyl floor covering in place under old shavings I rotate from the coop down to the poop drawer. It is held in place by 4 plastic wheels, 2 nailed in on each side.

I wanted it longer, but my husband was too concerned about the weight, and he was heading the construction, so...it is the size it is. Still works great and everyone who has chicken-sat for me appreciates it.

(I was going to clean it out before I took the photo, then decided you might want the realism.)

Here is how it looks closed:


Here it is open:


Here is an attempt to show you the 2 plastic wheels on one side through the drawer slot:

 

Quote:I could see that working for banties or young birds, but the droppings from my large fowl egg layers would get caught and not slide under the board on top of the drawer. Clever idea. Too bad its not in an enclosed area. I could see wind, rain and snow making that interesting. Do you have a problem with shavings littering the lawn below it? I can't quite tell if you're using it or not, but sand would work well for something like that. Definitely an everyday chore so they don't pile up. I still prefer my setup for me. Everyone's different in their needs and likes.

I see you have your ramp going up on the underside of the coop. Mine's like that, too.

 

Quote:You could make it work for large fowl by making the drawer deeper so the large poops have enough clearance.

I'm planing to do that for the next coop.

 

We have four full size layers in that coop, 1 Rhode Island Red, 1 Buff Orpington, and 2 red sex links, and we have no problems with it. (There's a 6x10 run on the other side in addition to the run you see underneath in the photo).

I just double checked and it is actually 1 and 3/4inches deep where the poop falls. The roost is 15 inches above the drawer on the inside and it is covered in chicken wire, so the poop has plenty of opportunity to break up if its all that big.

I clean it regularly (when it isn't raining), but it can go a couple of days without the problem of build up. If you can't clean it regularly, make a deeper drawer. That picture is taken out the basement patio doors and the coop sits on our concrete patio. We have to keep it very clean.