Floor of Coop

[lmdengler]

Cat Litter SCOOP ....not cat litter. You probably know but just clarifying. They really don't care about the filth.

I really wouldn't worry about 'washing' it...you really want to keep it dry.
Lining pan with a single sheet of good vinyl might help,
less likely for poops to stick than the metal.
A dust pan might work to scoop out the poopy shavings.

Sand might work for you...but it could freeze solid in your winter.
Granular Sweet PDZ would be a bit less likely to freeze than a fine sand,
I use a mix and the wet ones freeze solid in the sand, can be hard to get up.
Either may well jam the slider track so might have to scoop with coop door open.

I am laughing at myself! I was TOTALLY thinking cat litter! Ironically I do already use a kitty pooper scooper to scrape it out now. Tonight I came home from class (I teach nights) and stripped and cleaned the coop and put shavings back down. The girls looked at me somewhat peeved as I was certainly disturbing their beauty sleep. Bob had a what the heck look on his face. I spent an hour and a half cleaning. I feel like the little old lady on the movie "This house is clean....."

 

[Dayrel]

I have a smaller version of that TSC coop by the same manufacturer. I'm not terribly impressed with the slide-out thin metal tray. Shavings easily get into the tracks and make it hard to slide the tray in and out.

I've been selectively scooping the poop from the shavings each day with a kitty pooper scooper. Works moderately well. I'm thinking of switching to PDZ which should be easier to scoop.

 

[lmdengler]

What is PDZ

 

[micstrachan]

http://www.sweetpdz.com/

 

[lmdengler]

Well - I will have to look into that

 

[Dayrel]

I'm thinking of going with a combination of play sand and PDZ granules. The PDZ powder will likely generate too much dust. The PDZ will help to absorb the ammonia and hold down odor.

 

[aart]

I'm thinking of going with a combination of play sand and PDZ granules. The PDZ powder will likely generate too much dust. The PDZ will help to absorb the ammonia and hold down odor.

Definitely use granules not powder.....find it in the horse aisle at Tractor Supply.
I'd skip the sand portion and go straight PDZ, it's such a small area, most sands have pretty dusty and fine.