Joy of Droppings Boards

[Nugget]

I caved to peer pressure a month or 2 ago and put a droppings board under the main roost in the coop. It is about the best feature of my coop! I can't believe the difference it makes. Being able to scrape off the poo and toss it in the compost with no wood chips mixed in it is so efficient. The coop stays unbelievably clean. The hens were scared of it for a couple of days but they're over it now. If you don't use one, I'd say consider it!

 

[pbjmaker]

I have been considering this myself but am not sure how to go about this. Is it just a board that you laid on top of the bedding to catch their droppings? Do you have a picture? My coop is getting dirtier faster now that they spend more time in it because of the winter weather.

 

[Nugget]

I had an old plastic (melamine?) coated board and some old shelf brackets in the garage. I hung the board like a shelf about 3-4 inches lower than the roost they like. It catches 90% of what they produce in there. I have an old dustpan and a putty knife and scrape the shelf off once a week. I can get a photo, but if you search it here you will find others.
-it's how I got the idea hiow to build mine

 

[ChanceRider]

I have to agree that the poop trays I use are about the best feature of my coop. I didn't want to be messing with taking the roost out or having to scrape it (the roost is 8' long and fixed anyway), so I use trays under the roost with a mix of shavings and DE. It really helps keep the coop litter cleaner and free of odor. When the trays need to be changed I just dump them in an area of the garden.

I saw a post on BYC that had a movable roost/tray combination on rollers and modified it to fit my coop. BYC'ers have given me so many great ideas!

 

[Omran]

Would you please post some pictures!!!!


Thank you very much.

OMran

 

[BeardedChick]

I built extra wide 24" droppings boards, and put nests and a broody box underneath.