Have An Idea? Share it with others.

[ktbarns.com]

One thing we do for our coops is to put a wire mesh under the roost. this allows droppings to pass right through. We also put in a removable
plexi-glass in the door for extra ventilation on hot days.

 

[Tdub4chiks]

That's a good idea, but I'm not sure if that is going to work for people in the north. I think it would let in a lot of cold air. I find the poop boards work great. It only take a couple of minutes to scrape them off daily. A lot of BYCers use them in various forms. Just an idea.

 

[elmo]

Poop pass right through? I haven't found that to be the case, and I have bantams with droppings smaller than standard size chickens. I have found that a fair amount of droppings get caught on the wire, and then you have to scrape/clean the wire, which to me is a very tedious job. And of course wire isn't easy on a chicken's feet, so you wouldn't want the bottom of your coop to be composed only of wire anyway.

I like plastic boot trays under the roost. They're light and you can take them over to your composter, dump out the contents, and hose them down. Then when you replace them they're clean as a whistle.

One other issue with wire bottoms is predation. If the openings in the wire are larger than 1/2" by 1/2", you risk having some critter grab at your chickens through the wire. I've also read about birds having their feet bitten off through wire bottom cages.

 

[V Comb]

That would be great for here in Australia, it don't get too cold in most places. I'd enjoy one of those...