Help.. have SO many questions....

[DarleneE]

So I'm a new chicken owner. I have two hens age 9 weeks. Our coop is finally finished and we're planning on putting them in it this weekend. (Believe it or not we STILL have them INSIDE in a spare room with hardwood floor in a temp coop my husband made!!) Our coop is 10' X 3' and is inside our screen porch!! It's NOT on the outside ground!! Anyway, we were going to put sand in the coop/run but I read it's not recommended for young birds as they will tend to consume too much of it?? SO we decided on pine shavings for about 6 months and THEN go with the sand. Now my questions (dumb I'm sure and I apologize!!) With pine shavings HOW do you do DAILY cleanup?? Do you just turn it over and mix it up until it's too dirty then change it all out like maybe weekly?? Then 2nd question, if you put in a poop board under their roost.. then WHY do people say they have straw, or sand or whatever in there too?? Wouldn't you just have the 2X4 that we're using as their roost in there with only the poop board on the floor and that's it?? I thought the nest would be where you'd put some straw or something like that in?? I'm really SERIOUSLY confused here as you can surely tell!! Help!! Please keep in mind that we do NOT have an OUTDOOR coop with the ground as the floor!! Thank you!!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

~~There are NO dumb questions, especially if one has never husbanded livestock. The chickens will turn the shavings. There's no reason not to use sand though. The poop board only collects feces at night. Without shavings, the feces will stick like glue to the floor. Bedding also provides better footing. I have a lot more birds but I only swap out shavings about every 3 months. 1 of my coops has a concrete floor, the rest are wood. 2 of those are covered with HDPE plastic which is slick so those have deeper shavings. Even though, commercially, chickens are raised indoors, they really like to be outdoors. Occasional sunlight is great for them and they love to scratch in the soil for bugs, seeds and to dust bathe.

 

[DarleneE]

SO... does that mean I would put shavings in their roost during the day in case they go lay down in there and then take it out and leave only the board at night or just leave it in and still of course remove and clean the board??

 

[ChickenCanoe]

No, the shavings are in there always. They walk around in the coop and poop. Their nests are in there and depending on your setup, their food and water is in there and so are they.







Maybe these will give some ideas. The first and last pictures are the same unit.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Here's my coop so you can see my setup.

Also, if you want sand then use sand. I personally thought sand was more of a pain in the butt than pine shavings and straw.


My coop is 8'x6' and I use an entire 9 cubic ft bag of pine shavings as well as a small section of straw on the floor. I mix it around myself but the chickens love to dig around so they help out. In the nesting boxes I just use straw because the chickens like to create a nest.




This was back when the coop was still chicken free I have 3 different roosting bars that stagger heights




This was before adding the 3rd roost, as you can see my chickens wanted to go higher

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

SO... does that mean I would put shavings in their roost during the day in case they go lay down in there and then take it out and leave only the board at night or just leave it in and still of course remove and clean the board??

You're chickens will not go lay in the coop during the day, I 110% guarantee that. Mine go into the coop during the day to lay eggs and eat feed. I really recommend putting some kind of bedding on the floor as well as creating a poop board underneath their roosting bars. They poop a lot, but they poop even more at night (it's shocking

)

 

[21hens-incharge]

I have had my current flock about 3 years now. I took a lot of advice from BYC members. It really helped me to make a clean home for them. I have poop boards and linoleum in my coops. It is a snap to clean with the use of shavings.
My poop boards have linoleum on them as well as shavings and the shavings soak up most of the wet. I just sweep it into a bucket every day and put some fresh shavings.
The flooring can be very slick making it dangerous when they hop down off the roosts. I keep about 5 inches of shavings in the coop at all times. I only have to clean the entire coop about once a month. It is 8x8 with 11 large birds in it. Most of the poo ends up on the boards.
Personally I do not like having concrete as the base in a run. My hens will dig deep pits to dust bathe in and they could not do that on concrete. I also have enjoyed many hours watching them sunbathe while laying in the pits they have made.

Just my take on things:
1. Shavings or some other sort of bedding is a must.
2. Sunshine is needed.
3. Poop boards make life easier and cleaner.

I have 3 coops but like the one I was able to fit poop boards in best. It is the largest and yet the easiest to clean up.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have had my current flock about 3 years now. I took a lot of advice from BYC members. It really helped me to make a clean home for them. I have poop boards and linoleum in my coops. It is a snap to clean with the use of shavings.
My poop boards have linoleum on them as well as shavings and the shavings soak up most of the wet. I just sweep it into a bucket every day and put some fresh shavings.
The flooring can be very slick making it dangerous when they hop down off the roosts. I keep about 5 inches of shavings in the coop at all times. I only have to clean the entire coop about once a month. It is 8x8 with 11 large birds in it. Most of the poo ends up on the boards.
Personally I do not like having concrete as the base in a run. My hens will dig deep pits to dust bathe in and they could not do that on concrete. I also have enjoyed many hours watching them sunbathe while laying in the pits they have made.

Just my take on things:
1. Shavings or some other sort of bedding is a must.
2. Sunshine is needed.
3. Poop boards make life easier and cleaner.

I have 3 coops but like the one I was able to fit poop boards in best. It is the largest and yet the easiest to clean up.

X2
I only have concrete as the floor of the brooder house and the chicks have access to the outdoors. All my birds get sun and shade as well as places to dustbathe.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

If you're trying to minimize cleaning time, you might want to research using deep litter. There are numerous threads on the topic but the following link is to one of my favorites as it relates first-person experience in using it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/643302/results-from-first-year-with-deep-litter-method

I have a poop tray under the roosts that has about 5 inches of pine shavings in it. I'll move the shavings around to cover any exposed poops roughly every other day. Every three weeks or so I replace the shavings in the tray. The coop floor is all shavings, leaves, other organic stuff and I let it build in the deep litter fashion. Deep litter done right has no odor in a well ventilated coop.

I used sand for a while in my brooder. The girls didn't eat much of it and enjoyed dust bathing in it. I also had sand briefly in both my tractor and in the larger coop poop tray. I removed it as I felt it too time consuming and it just wasn't for me. Other's swear by sand and use it successfully. It's what everyone individually prefers.

Try both and you'll eventually decide on which method you prefer. Good luck!

Edit to add: I don't have a dirt floor, either. We placed a large heavy-duty tarp on the floor with the litter on top of it. The plan is that we should be able to pull up the corners of the tarp and remove the deep litter that way. I say it's the plan as we've not yet cleaned out the coop so I'm not sure it will work but I'm hopeful!