Huge deep bedding coop clean out...job done and a lesson learned!!

[aart]

I scoop the poop boards daily. It only takes about a minute to scoop mine. Think it's 8 ft long by 2 ft deep. I've seen that others scoop theirs less frequently.

I do mine daily too.
Doesn't take long and I would rather that than the huge job of cleaning floor bedding without the boards.
There is still poop in the floor bedding and it can get rank during a thaw.

 

[PeterPraetoria]

I scoop the poop boards daily. It only takes about a minute to scoop mine. Think it's 8 ft long by 2 ft deep. I've seen that others scoop theirs less frequently.

Would you be willing to post a picture of your poop boards/roosts. I'm a visual person and would love to see what you mean, the setup I mean. Thanks

 

[aart]

Would you be willing to post a picture of your poop boards/roosts. I'm a visual person and would love to see what you mean, the setup I mean. Thanks

You didn't ask me specifically @PeterPraetoria , but here's mine....
...in a thread with a ton of poop board set ups:
Here's some posts about it, they're kind of old, but changes are noted.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-poop-pictures.621363/page-111#post-13179595
Updates:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-poop-pictures.621363/page-178#post-18966048

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/...ch-x-9-inch-mesh-drawer-organizer-silver.html

 

[RojoMarz]

Would you be willing to post a picture of your poop boards/roosts. I'm a visual person and would love to see what you mean, the setup I mean. Thanks

Here is our poop board with roost.

 

[Vacman]

I haven't cleaned out the coop since last fall. I use straw and just keep adding more straw. The ammonia smell is due to the lack of oxygen. I add straw from time to time, but when I begin to smell ammonia, I throw scratch grain in the coop. The hens go nuts churning everything up and that allows oxygen to penetrate the straw and poop. The ammonia smell is gone in a matter of a few hours. I plan to give it a good cleaning this spring when I start a new compost pile. I expect to clean it out every spring & fall. Oh, I'm only dealing with 5 hens but I expect that to double this spring. That may change my schedule.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I have only cleaned out the deep litter in my coop once in four years, I plan on doing it again in the fall and letting the pile cook all winter for spring planting.

I add leaves and hay and wood chips as I go, it needs some more now.

I do plan on a yearly fall cleaning, but it does not happen it seems.

 

[Vacman]

I have only cleaned out the deep litter in my coop once in four years, I plan on doing it again in the fall and letting the pile cook all winter for spring planting.

I add leaves and hay and wood chips as I go, it needs some more now.

I do plan on a yearly fall cleaning, but it does not happen it seems.

It surprises me how much they chew it up and pack it down. If I didn't need the bedding for the compost pile, I wouldn't even clean it out this spring. Apparently the hens do their own housekeeping. There's not a lot of bulk in there now but a lot of finely chopped up stuff that should compost easily.

 

[Ted Brown]

Mine is 10' wide and 3' deep, three roost bars. I use the same sifter from BB&B as @aart (thanks), a large food scoop with a small stiff scraper, a standard bucket, Takes 10 minutes including disposal to nearby compost box

Scooped daily from pure PDZ, 26 birds at peak. Wet ones DO FREEZE to boards!!

I have changed the deep bedding once after more than a year (driven to by NF mites) it was dry, dusty (from dried poop), no amonia smell, serviceable,

 

[Rodrad]

I scoop the poop boards daily. It only takes about a minute to scoop mine. Think it's 8 ft long by 2 ft deep. I've seen that others scoop theirs less frequently.

We don’t have a poop board in our chicken coop. However, I think in the wintertime it may be good to have one, since they spent so much time inside.
Two questions: is your poop board designed as a part of the coop, so it can be just slid out w/o going into the coop, or it is one made afterwards just to fit under the roosting bars and needs to be taken out through the coop door;
- what do you doo with such raw manure?

thank you, appreciate your answers,
rod

 

[RojoMarz]

We don’t have a poop board in our chicken coop. However, I think in the wintertime it may be good to have one, since they spent so much time inside.
Two questions: is your poop board designed as a part of the coop, so it can be just slid out w/o going into the coop, or it is one made afterwards just to fit under the roosting bars and needs to be taken out through the coop door;
- what do you doo with such raw manure?

thank you, appreciate your answers,
rod

Poop board does not come out. The poop board has Sweet PDZ on it and I scoop it like you would a cat box. The poop goes into a five gallon bucket. When it's full, it goes to compost area.