Opinions on poop pit

[cherig22]

Another thing you could add is a pooper scooper. Not really a scoop, but a rake (but pooper raker is just lame, lol).

It's like a pole with a rake on the end, but made of wood, and made to fit the width of the pit. Ours will be about 4 ft. wide. It stays in place, shoved all the way forward. When time comes to clean, just pull the pole and rake out, and out comes the litter in a nice long pile. Shovel it up, and shove the rake back in.

Cheri

 

[LocoPollo]

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Oooh cool! That is a great idea!

 

[LocoPollo]

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If you do that, you'll have a permanent poop pile under the coop that you can't clean out...flies, odor, YUCK. Make sure the barriers are removable somehow.

I agree with using some type of 1" hardware cloth to cover the pit and smaller wire elsewhere, for safety's sake. 1" should be wide enough to allow the droppings to fall through. By all means, don't use chicken wire... Some predators can shred that stuff easily.

I think you should make a little wall (like, a foot or two high) in between the droppings pit and the rest of the coop. Otherwise, your bedding material on the coop floor will end up either falling through or blocking the pit opening.

That is very helpful. I am planning a two foot wall to separate the pit from the rest of the coop, and the top of the wall will be where I put the one inch mesh wire. On the other side of the wall I am planning on putting a door for cleaning out the pit.

 

[Penske]

I have a dropping board under the roost with pine shavings on it. I clean it off every day (takes about 2 minutes) and there is NO smell in the coop whatsoever. I replace the shavings on the board as needed.

It's been 8 months and the shavings on the floor of the coop are still dry and fluffy!

I have 12 hens and 1 roo.

Just another idea to consider!

Lisa

 

[HuckFinn]

Hello -

We got our first egg today - hooray!!!

We have a "starter coop", and are making plans for our next one. Could some of you who have so graciously described their "poop pits", perhaps post a picture? Pictures really seem to make the idea come to life, and then I "get it".

Thanks in advance. So glad to be here.

CluckFinn on Cape Cod

 

[LocoPollo]

I finally got the roof on in time for the rain. It rained all day today, and I went out to check on the chickens and noticed that in the poop pit was a BUNCH of pooled water! UGH. Not sure what to do about that. Now I am seriously thinking about bailing on the pit idea and just going to droppings board. I just dont know how to deal with a 4' X 8' droppings board! It seems like a big area for a board.

 

[psrumors]

The board doesn't have to be the full 4x8. You can have multiple boards 2 4x4 or 4 2x4. Our new coop is going to have dropping boards or baskets rather.

I am either going to use cookie sheets hung under the roosts or rubbermade totes.