kitty litter scoop for sand floor?

[katydidit]

I'm planning on using sand on my coop floor (5'x3', about 2" deep). I was thinking that a kitty litter scooper would be the easiest for cleanup since I dont have a huge coop to clean out (and only 4 chooks). Would chicken poop be too small to clump in the sand? Am I dreaming when I think that it will be similar to cleaning out a cat litter box?

Any experience here would be appreciated. My 5 week old girls just moved out to the coop yesterday, and I'm using up pine shavings that I had in the brooder in the meantime, but I am NOT a FAN OF how much the shavings clog their waterer!! Plus my thinking is the sand would double as grit for them.

Any opinions welcome!

 

[GiddyMoon]

Chicken poop is NOT tiny! lol

And yes, you can clean it like a litter box. I would find one of those pooper scoopers on a long handle, with a rake style thing so you don't have to bend over

 

[katydidit]

lol. Tiny- relative to cat poop! But relative to their body size, I'm AMAZED!! I'm going to try to find a metal litter scooper that has small slats so that I'm able to get more of the waste out.

I've read a lot on here about how people love (or even hate) sand, but given our hot dry climate I think its my best bet! Just wanted to see how people feel about litter scoopers for poop removal.

 

[ki4got]

I'm not sure if the clumps would be large enough but you might try one of those plastic tined manure forks used for horses... we call em pucky pickers LOL maybe attach some fine hardware cloth to the back side to sift the sand/clumps with? that's what i'd try for sure.

every time someone asks a question, it comes with a ton of ideas and sometimes more questions...

Karen - k.i.forgot

 

[katydidit]

oooh! Great call on attaching the hardware cloth- makes perfect sense!

Thank you for the idea

 

[GiddyMoon]

Quote:
The hardware cloth is so stiff, you could make your own..just curl up the sides a little bit and it would probably work like a charm

 

[elmo]

This is the one I use:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1MVS251KDFP9F9CTKBF9

I taped it to a long handle so I wouldn't have to bend over. I started using a kitty litter scoop but found that too many of our bantams' smaller dropping were filtering right through the holes back into the sand. The reptile scoop is made to sift through sand, and that's what it does.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Scoops made for sifting pet reptile sand usually have a smaller mesh than cat litter scoops.

If you elevate the waterer, it keeps the litter out of it. It keeps them from scratching feed out of feeders if you elevate those, too. Just don't raise them higher than the shortest chicken's back.

 

[chuckzoo]

I use a pair of kitty litter scoops for scooping my run that has sand in it. Two are definately better than one - kind of like sweeping into a dust pan

You can get large kitty litter scoops.

I also have 4 chickens and this works great for me!

 

[Kaneke]

Quote:
works even better sometimes, to keep sand out of feed, if you put the feeder inside a slightly larger and taller-side bowl or container; my friend with the banties suggested a deep frypan ... this catches the feed that they "bill" out of the feeder ... I didn't have one of those but used a big bowl intended for letting bread dough rise