Frozen dropping board

[garngang]

The past few days it has been really cold here and all of my chickens poop is frozen to the dropping board. Anybody have any helpful ideas? I'm really having trouble getting it off and I know it's important to get it outta there. I'm trying to be creative but I'm afraid it's the chisel for me. Thought about using the blow drier but the smell is probably gonna kill me. Haha

 

[chookchick]

Sprinkle either a thin layer of shavings, or a layer of stall dry, on your poop board right after you clean it.

Whatever is there, if it is frozen I wouldn't worry about it. If it stays frozen it won't be giving off fumes. Just get it off the minute it unfreezes.

 

[gsim]

3" wide brick chisel with hammer will do it if chisel is not dull. Mine is frozen too, (12 degrees past 3 mornings) but I have no trouble scraping it off.

Mine is linoleum over OSB so it is not hard to clean no matter the temp. I use an 8" drywall knife that I hang on a nail inside of the coop. I keep a covered plastic bin under one of the poop planks and empty it every 3rd day in my garden.

If yours is not covered with a slick surface, you may have to take in inside and let it thaw out and clean it.

then you can glue linoleum over it and replace it before night time.

As good as mine work, I am replacing them with galvanized sheet metal by the time warm weather comes. Super smooth, no rust, no problem even in coldest weather.

 

[meathook]

Quote:
This is what I do actually both. I currently have chicken wire over mine my thought being that the chickens wouldn't walk through the poop. This turned out to be a bad idea. The poop freezes to the chicken wire and is impossible to get off. I am going to get a sturdier poop board that will support the weight of the chickens (currently it is a piece of paneling) and remove the chicken wire.

 

[teach1rusl]

I had to laugh at the blowdryer image!

Yeah...sprinkle a light layer of shavings on there every day after you scrape (I just scoop up about two handfuls from my coop floor...the finer stuff that settles at the bottom). It makes dropping board clean-up oh so much easier.

 

[LynneP]

I use Stable Boy powder after cleaning, or food-grade DE. I think you better leave it until a thaw, then you can adjust depending on the weather...I use a paint scraper and a catch bucket.

 

[Uzuri]

Garden trowel works for me. I busted my kitty-litter scoop on frozen droppings already this year Looking for a metal one to replace it with, but until then, the trowel it is.

 

[Fanny]

I line mine with used cardboard - scrape from the cardboard and when there's too many stuck ones just replace the cardboard.

 

[scooter147]

I have the same problem and at this point I am going to have to wait until it thaws.

But here is a funny story from last year, apparently I was smarter last year because I thought of the frozen poop problem. Any way I went out and laid a layer of newspaper on my dropping board. It was dark when I went into the coop but I turned the light on and proceeded to lay out the paper. All the while the girls are sitting peacefully just watching me lay down the paper. I decided to leave the light on. I proceed out, shut the door and get about 10 feet from the coop and heard all kinds of squwaking and chickens flying and jumping about the coop. I thought what the heck is going on so I go back and when I opened the coop door I had a bunch of panic stricken chickens with newspaper "floating" about. So I surmise that one of the chickens decided to jump from the roost and the wind from her wings set the paper in motion and if you have been around chickens long enough you know nothing scares them more then quick unknown movement.

 

[garngang]

Hadn't thought of the shavings idea thanks!
Today was a much warmer day (in the 20s lol) but I didn't have time before dark. I have a great Dane pup and an English mastiff pup and when they decide to be bad it takes ur whole evening. Lol but tomorrow I'm thinking I'll be snowed in so I'm gonn spend my day chiseling poop. Woohoo! Lol
thanks for all your input guys