Litter height, poop board height, Coop height, door height...

[DVTO2]

I am trying to get some final design features in my coop. I will have a 4' wall height with a 1' gabled roof. If I deep litter, I figure ending up with 9" to 12" inches of litter. Someone suggested I do a 2' poop board under my roosts at one end. If I am trying to save space under the poop board for the chickens to move around, plus have nest boxes mounted outside, can I put the poop board at 32" for 12" of litter, have the roosts at 33" (2x3's turned on side) which would leave 15" plus the roof space for the chickens to get on the roosts. That would give at least 20" room under the board, even with 12" of litter. of Alternatively, I could plan for less deep litter and lower the board.

Also, is a 12"x15" door big enough?

 

[patandchickens]

First you may want to reconsider the whole deep-litter thing. The "leave things damp and pooey so they compost" version does not generally work well for low reach-in size coops like yours, especially in cold-winter areas. Of course, you can just have a deep depth of relatively CLEAN litter, and if that's what you're planning (for insulation) it is fine, I just want to make sure you are not planning something that won't work out well

If you DO want just deep *clean* litter, then personally I would site my roosts so that the chickens have adequate headroom (like at least 18-20" for average sized chickens), and the droppings boards about 6" below that (you need to have room to get a cleaning tool in between the roost and the board), and then however much space is left below it is how much space is left below it. Even if there is not "walking-tall" room below the droppings board when the coop has lots of bedding in it, the chickens can still use that space by hunching down so it is not wasted.

12x15 is plenty big for the door. Make sure you have it raised high enough that it will remain well above the top of your bedding.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[teach1rusl]

Well now I'm confused...lol. I didn't think deep litter and dropping boards went together??? Typically, dropping boards are to make clean up "oh so easy"...and they do! I thought deep litter meant you didn't clean, but just let it pile up, mixed with litter, and turned it occasionally???? So you may want to get some clarification on that. I know nothing of deep litter method, but I LOVE dropping boards! Your dropping boards do need to be far enough below the roosts to be able to scrape them off easily w/a putty knife or whatever (I scrape mine into a "poop bucket" daily...takes @ a minute). Mine is probably 6 inches below my roosts.

I think deep litter method works best on taller coops, where you don't have to worry about losing space....

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Sure they can.

I use a version of deep litter and still I DEPEND ON my droppings boards, they make the litter last far far longer and minimize humidity in the air.

The less poo in the litter, the longer til you have to change it out

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[musson]

Here is a pic of the inside of my coop. You can see the litter boards are just under the roost, there is plenty of room for chickens under the litter boards. My coop is 6' tall the roosts are about 4' off the floor. The chickens use a trash can to assist them getting on the roost. We don't use "Deep" litter, just about 3" of it. Most of the poop is on the litter boards and we clean them 2-3 times per week. There is almost no poop on the coop floor. The nest boxes are on the left however ALL of the chickens are now laying eggs under the left next box, go figure.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
Sure they can.

I use a version of deep litter and still I DEPEND ON my droppings boards, they make the litter last far far longer and minimize humidity in the air.

The less poo in the litter, the longer til you have to change it out

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

I learn something new every day (not always about chickens...lol). And yeah DVT, do raise your pop door a few inches. Mine is only about 2-3 inches off the floor (duhhhh...) and I'm frequently cleaning the base track (sliding door)...and I just use @2 inches of bedding in my coop.

 

[DVTO2]

No litter on the floor sounds great. I plan on hinging the roof of the nest boxes (which are exterior to the roost and poop board) so the poop board can slide out for cleaning.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Well, now, even if you are not doing *deep* litter, you pretty much do need *some* litter on the floor...

Pat