How deep is your PDZ poop board?

[aart]

Just wondering what is the best depth for PDZ on a poop board?

Does it need to be 3-4 inches deep or does and inch or so work?

Do you mix with sand or straight nothing but PDZ?

How many birds do you have and how often do you sift the poop out?

Thanks for offering your experiences!

 

[chickiegrrl]

I have a piece of plywood covered with vinyl flooring and 1"x1/2" furring strips around the edges to hold the PDZ on the board. My PDZ is about 1/2" deep and it's easy-peasy to use a kitty litter scoop to scoop it up. I don't think you need 3" of PDZ at all. I scoop my poop boards every day. I collect egg and scoop the board, but I only have 4 hens so it takes 2 minutes.

 

[aart]

Thx...I have ten birds, 6 full grown and 4 pullets (mini poops) and 12 feet of roost so it takes longer than 2 minutes...but I only scoop every other day.

 

[NotableNancy]

I have about an 1 1/2 inch of granulated PDZ on my poop board; no sand. My 13 girls are 7 months old and it only takes me about 20 minutes to scoop the board, the coop floor and the run. Coop and run are both sand. I love it. So easy and never smells! When people visit they're surprised at how clean the coop is and no odor.

 

[Marbleheader]

6 hens. No poop board for me. I have a 4x4 elevated coop, probably 3 feet high at the peak. Roosts are about a foot off of a plywood base with vinyl flooring squares, probably like what chickiegrrl described. Floor covered with about 2 inches of Sweet PDZ. Clean once a week with a metal kitty litter scoop. Add new Sweet PDZ about once every four months. Seems to work pretty well.

 

[sn0wwhite]

I had about a half inch of mostly sand with some PDZ in my old coop and it took less than a minute to scoop each day and smelled nice. I went with about a half inch of only PDZ on the new coop but they're not roosting above the poop board yet so no cleanup!

 

[aart]

I had about a half inch of mostly sand with some PDZ in my old coop and it took less than a minute to scoop each day and smelled nice. I went with about a half inch of only PDZ on the new coop but they're not roosting above the poop board yet so no cleanup!

How old are your birds Sn0w?
I've found that hen poop is MUCH larger than pullet poop!

 

[sn0wwhite]

heh... they are 20 weeks and 3 days and I have noticed the poop is getting larger. I find it's actually a bit easier to clean because it doesn't fall through the holes as much any more.

But, remember in my 1 minute cleaning coop the thing was only about 2 feet by 2 feet. I expect it will take longer to clean now. I don't mind. How much PDZ I'll need remains to be seen. I'll just add more as I go.

 

[Eggcessive]

The depth of PDZ depends on the height of the lip on the boards. Mine is 3 inches high, and I just dump a few bags in so that it is about 2 inches thick--kind of like kitty litter. When it gets thin, I add more. I scoop mine each day.

 

[aart]

The depth of PDZ depends on the height of the lip on the boards. Mine is 3 inches high, and I just dump a few bags in so that it is about 2 inches thick--kind of like kitty litter. When it gets thin, I add more. I scoop mine each day.

...oooorrrrr how high to build the lip depends on the optimal depth the PDZ should be. I think 2 inches would work well and the 3 inch lip would keep it where it belongs.

I'm kind of wishing I had made mine deeper, it's 1 1/2" high with about 1/2" sand and PDZ.....because the pullets hang out there all day to avoid the older birds, and they kind of want to dust bathe and scratch in it, which sends it over the lip....but...I don't have the run done yet and once they go outside things may change in that regard, tho it might change back once we get socked in with snow and they stay inside....and...I've only had the chooks for 2 weeks or so and am just learning their habits and behaviors.

Then again, I have no income, so the less I spend on such things the better......and I tend to overanalyze, it always interests me to see what others experiences are.

Thanks for the feedback!