Is a slide-out pan for cleaning out the coop nice to have or stupid?

[ChickenOfSpades]

I've decided I'm probably going to build a coop instead of buying a prefab...lots of the prefabs have a little pull-out tray in the coop to supposedly make it easier to clean out the coop. Is this just a stupid feature of prefabs or something actually useful? Thanks!

 

[Shmemums]

Apparently it's really helpful to have a poop tray under the roost bars. I've noticed when people build their own coop the poop tray is stationary and they go into the coop to scoop the poop and it's really quick for them so they prefer it

 

[Battlepants]

I don't like the concept personally. Just one more moving part that gets wear and tear and eventually jams. I would rather just toss in way too much litter, let them poop on it, mix it up and then rake it out like 2-3 times a year.

It also heavily depends on how the tray slot is made - if it can be pulled out while able to keep a good deal of material on top of it, I can see use in there. But if there is an above board that limits how deep the material can be on top of the tray, this complicates things.

But yea, a poop tray under the roost definitely has value too. Most of the coop poop will happen while the bird is sleeping on the roost, so it ends up in a very predictable spot. Having a quick-removal panel that you can scrape off would keep the litter decently clean. The trouble here is that the poop tray does nothing to mitigate the smell, so has to be cleaned very often (daily, I hear).

 

[Shmemums]

Oh and they put sweet pdz on it to function as scoopable litter because it keeps the smell way down

 

[townchicks]

Depends on how you build your coop. I had a prefab coop when I first got chickens, it had a fairly deep pull out tray that actually worked well. When I built a slightly larger coop, however, I raised it up and built in a clean out door. Now I just open the door and scoop out the poop from under the roost and it saves my back. I use sweet PDZ and a cat litter scoop, just about a minute, daily, to clean up after 4 hens.

 

[Pinebox Provisions]

We literally just did this last weekend! We’re trying the tray out, though the bench is designed to fold up and out of the way (the roosts are removable for cleaning up) and the tray’s front lip to lay flat for cleaning

 

[3KillerBs]

I've never had one, but many people have reported that such trays are heavy, awkward and prone to jamming even without accounting for the fact that adult hens' poop is often the size of golf balls and thus get scraped off the tray completely as you pull it out.

I recommend that instead of pull-out tray which would have to be cleaned at least weekly if not daily, you build your coop to accommodate Deep Bedding. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

 

[Cluckforluck]

I've decided I'm probably going to build a coop instead of buying a prefab...lots of the prefabs have a little pull-out tray in the coop to supposedly make it easier to clean out the coop. Is this just a stupid feature of prefabs or something actually useful? Thanks!

A lot of folks will say it's one more moving part that can break - however when I learned that harbor freight sells transfer load bearings for $0.99 that I can screw into the floor and make removal easy as pie...I was sold. The tray now moves in and out with little effort. With the right design, I would recommend. I would most certainly however make the inside of the tray a material easy to wipe.