Frozen poop question

[Chold05]

Hello friends!

Does anyone else deal with frozen poop in their coop?

Today is SW pa it was 12 with a wind chill of like 0. We’ve been on a wind advisory for the last 2 days with gusts over 40.

I came out to frozen poop, which, I suppose given the weather should be expected but it got me wondering if my setup can be improved or if frozen poop is a normal thing.

I got a new coop last spring so I’ve been tweaking it as I go. It’s 8x12 with 9ft ceilings and I have 8 chickens in there. It’s partitioned off with one side for chickens and the other storage.

I have ventilation above their heads. No water in the coop and lots of pine shaving bedding laid down.


Would love to hear if you have frozen poop in your coop too.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Poop will freeze if not scooped up before it does. It has liquid in it, so it's normal.

 

[Roosterinthecity]

Frozen poop is easier to collect for the purpose of mulching/fertilizer

 

[Mrs. K]

The thing is, is frozen poop is dry. It generally does not cause any problems as long as it is frozen.

In my experience, it is when the cold spell breaks, and it thaws out. That is when I will get frostbite.

What happens, is it warms up, the poop melts, releases a lot of moisture into the air, and a lot of ammonia, then that night, when the temperature drops, that is when I will get frostbite.

So I don't worry about it when it is frozen, but I try and get it out of there when the cold spell breaks.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

Yeah, poopsicles.
I didn't even bother to clean the poop boards this morning as the stuff was stuck so hard.

 

[rosemarythyme]

They're just frozen poop nuggets. Since I have hemp under the roosts I just scoop up what I can, and anything that's too frozen onto the floor I'll wait until it thaws and scrape it up then.

 

[Sally PB]

If I have a thick enough layer of PDZ on the poop board, I can usually scoop the poop off no problem.

 

[aart]

If I have a thick enough layer of PDZ on the poop board, I can usually scoop the poop off no problem.

Been running mine a bit thin, plus many were loosey poops.

 

[nuthatched]

I can send my puppy over, he finds them *delectable*.