Poop board convert *warning-graphic/gross poop pictures*

[gailmaison]

Check out the progress so far .....

Before...

So far ...

Whatcha think? There will be a window between the two roosts soon ...

I love all this poop talk but I want to know is...where do you put your nest boxes and how do you keep the hens from pooping in them ??

 

[kimmerjo]

I love all this poop talk but I want to know is...where do you put your nest boxes and how do you keep the hens from pooping in them ??

I would put them right under your poop board . That way they can get on top of them.

 

[Alaskan]

I love all this poop talk but I want to know is...where do you put your nest boxes and how do you keep the hens from pooping in them ??

I would put them right under your poop board . That way they can't get on top of them.

X2

hang a row of nest boxes under the poop trays, suspended from them.

I REALLY prefer big nest boxes, like the community type boxes. So three feet or more wide 18 inches deep, and 12 tall, and super dark.

Of course that isn't quite what I have I have an open box about a foot deep and tall and 2.5 wide. It is suspended under the poop tray, and is a darkish corner. That one box works with 12 hens. I have a second bantam sized box, and then one open bin. They almost always lay in the big box.

 

[kimmerjo]

Lol yes thanks for the correction meant Can't

 

[draines]

So...I am completely new to this whole chicken thing! I have my first 2 Buff Orps inside now (freezing out) and c beginner coop is in the mail. I read a lot of the prior posts, but not all. I have a couple of questions...
1 - Can I use PDZ and no shavings in the floor of my coop. My small coop entire floor is a poop tray, and is under the roost bar.
2 - Will the chickens take dust baths in the PDZ? If they do, is this a problem?

Thanks tons for any advice...there is an amazing wealth of knowledge in this site!
Dan

 

[Alaskan]

Yes, make the entire floor a PDZ tray, Caulk any edges before you pour the PDZ in.

Yes, they might take dust bathes in it, but that is OK.

 

[dtress]

Wow - after MANY late night hours reading through hundreds of posts in this amazingly helpful thread, I finally made a plan to make some much needed changes to my coop. I have a 3x4 foot coop for 6 hens (4 of which are in brooder). Living in CA, they only need to be up there at night and for laying, so the space works OK. However, the ventilation is an issue, as is the tendency for the birds to want to stir up their fresh droppings early in the AM before I can scoop them up. Plus, I've been using rice hulls, which is fantastic for composting (did you know they attract worms and created a vermiculture rock star compost?). However, those flighty hulls are spread out everywhere around my runs, tidy yard, and throughout my house, garage, in all my shoes, even in my car! Ugh.

So off I went to purchase the sweet PDZ, put 3/4 of a 50 lb bag on the entire floor of the coop (except for where the nesting boxes are), and no rice hulls. The girls were oh so curious to see what fancy remodel was happening in their home sweet home... bedroom curtains? Master dirt bath? Until ... they stepped foot in the stuff. AAAGH! It was quite a scene. I've never seen them so freaked out. The good thing is that they immediately jumped up onto the roosting bar to get their toes out of it, but the bad news is that they seem to hate it. And I'm worried they will be discouraged from laying upstairs in their nesting boxes, or even going to bed at all.

Has anyone experienced this? I am hopeful that, due to their instinct to avoid death at nightfall, they will be forced to suck it up and walk in the sand barefoot.

Also, could I have put too much of this stuff down? ( 3" deep) . I really don't want to add a layer of rice hulls or hay, because I'd be back where I started. I know there is someone out there in this thread who has an answer for me - a solution - or at least some good ol' fashioned encouragement?

And lastly, I was planning on putting the PDZ in my brooder, but chickened out (Funny ha, ha) for fear of my babies eating too much of this stuff. I didn't read enough threads from anyone who tried it with their chicks and then saw them live a long healthy life afterwards. Is the jury still out? I did put it in my rabbit litter box though. Maybe I can sprinkle the stuff in the bottom of my trash cans too! And my 10 yo's backpack!

Thanks for your amazing support - what an AWESOME community to be part of. I have spent many many hours on this site over the last 4 years of chickenhood.

Onward! BTW - LOVE the photos of all the coops.

 

[Alaskan]

Chickens are... Uh... Chicken

Give them time to get used to the scary new something.

If they refuse to roost tonight, I would pick them up, toss them in, and lock the door behind them.

Or....if you are not as cruel minded as I am, you can always go the sweet route. Get the all time favorite treat, and give them a trail of goodies up and then onto the PDZ. Maybe let the trail lead to a plate of the rest of the treats, that they can see from the entrance.

Chickens are highly motivated by their stomachs.

As to the proper depth, 3" is great, you just have a bunch of chicken chickens.

 

[amenfarm]

, I agree they are just chicken. Mine do this every time I add shredded white paper from the office shredder. They get over it quick. Lock them in for a day will get them passed it quick, i throw black oil sunflowers over my scarier pile, by the next day the have it spread all over the coop. I WILL be brooding my chicks on PDZ. If your concerned about it check out the sweet PDZ web site.

 

[craigcarter79]

Does anyone know if i can get sweet pdz shipped to the UK. Can't find it over here.