How do you scoop the poop out of the sand in the coop?

[M_Clucker]

So I decided to get on board and try sand in the chicken coop. I live in NE Tennessee with high humidity and constant rain. The grass floor of my new coop quickly turned to a gross muck with caked on poop that never dried. The coop is covered with a tin roof and has plenty of airflow, it’s just that humid. I’m new to the chicken world, but I quickly realized that even with frequent floor raking and cleaning, it was unhealthy for my birds to constantly be in contact with a wet floor. So, I bit the bullet and bought almost 2 tons of construction medium grade sand a week ago. The floor is now dry to the bone and there’s no smell! However, when I tried to clean up the coop floor today with my makeshift shovel-sifter, the poop magically would disappear...I’d sift and maybe get 5 pieces at best. I’ve got 7, 2mo old chickens in a coop that has 144 square feet of floor space. They also spend a few evening hours free-ranging the yard now that there’s sand in the coop. They poop a lot and I normally clean weekly (pre-sand). I don’t know if it’s the dryness of the sand, if the free-ranging has cut down on the poop (doubtful), or if I need to go smaller than 1/4” hardware cloth on my shovel-sifter? Maybe my birds’ poops are still too small to catch because they are so young? I’ve attached photos of my makeshift shovel-sifter, the floor of the coop, the sand, and size of birds. Any recommendations is greatly appreciated! TIA

 

[rosemarythyme]

At 2 mos their poop is still fairly small so it'll be difficult to sift it out even with a 1/4" sifter.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I don't know if it will work on chicken poop, but it works on turkey poop, I taped a handle to a kitty litter scoop, and use that to get everything the horse poop rake can't pick up. My husband uses the rake to rake everything in a pile, than he uses the scooper. I personally just use the scooper.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The hardware cloth on the rake is quite brilliant. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[electrycmonk]

We use 2 kitty litter rakes with our pzd boards under the roosting rail and in the crates.....

 

[M_Clucker]

I don't know if it will work on chicken poop, but it works on turkey poop, I taped a handle to a kitty litter scoop, and use that to get everything the horse poop rake can't pick up. My husband uses the rake to rake everything in a pile, than he uses the scooper. I personally just use the scooper.

Any particular kitty litter scooper? Do you think the holes are smaller than 1/4”?

 

[M_Clucker]

We use 2 kitty litter rakes with our pzd boards under the roosting rail and in the crates.....

Any particular kitty litter scooper? Do you think the slots might be smaller than 1/4”?

 

[M_Clucker]

At 2 mos their poop is still fairly small so it'll be difficult to sift it out even with a 1/4" sifter.

This is unfortunate

 

[electrycmonk]

Any particular kitty litter scooper? Do you think the slots might be smaller than 1/4”?

Good question. I'll measure later tonight for ya. FWIW they are the typical model that's about 7-8" wide & about 12" tall. The scoop is at most ~1.5" deep. They are the type that retail ~$7-12 each. IIRC.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Any particular kitty litter scooper? Do you think the slots might be smaller than 1/4”?

Whatever Wal-Mart carries. I haven't measured it.