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

[mbcmama]

I haven't read thru all 99 pages of this thread, but had a question! My girls (3 big girls laying and 3 not yet) all want to lay eggs and nest in my poop tray! We have nesting boxes below and a roost bar with poop tray filled with sand and PDZ above. They all scratch around and sit in the sand and the big girls lag their eggs up there too ( when they aren't on strike for us getting new girls). We have put golf balls in the nesting boxes too. The rest of the run/coop has the deep litter method in it that they don't poop much. We clean the poop out every other day but YUCK!!!

 

[nab58]

That's strange. You'd think they'd prefer the hay on the floor or the nest boxes over the poop tray. have you tried putting golf balls or an egg in the nest box to show them where to lay?

 

[mbcmama]

Yep! They just scratch around and cover up the golf balls! My three big girls are also on a laying strike right now for some reason. I posted in another thread too about them not laying since se got the new little girls about a month ago. We get about one egg every couple of days right now. We were getting 3 a day consistantly before the newbies got here.

 

[cbadley]

Thanks for the tip! My coop is in the finishing stages and have been trying to think of the best "poop" solution. My dear dad is helping me and he can build anything!! Will have him make some shelves. What is Sweet PDZ though and where do I find it?

 

[LittleBits]

Yep! They just scratch around and cover up the golf balls! My three big girls are also on a laying strike right now for some reason. I posted in another thread too about them not laying since se got the new little girls about a month ago. We get about one egg every couple of days right now. We were getting 3 a day consistantly before the newbies got here.

I wonder if you could make the poo board inaccessible to them during the day? Maybe put a slanted board toward the wall so they can't get up there at all? (Or whatever else you may come up with.) Then they CAN'T lay in there and may discover the benefits of a nice, private nest!

 

[LittleBits]

Thanks for the tip! My coop is in the finishing stages and have been trying to think of the best "poop" solution. My dear dad is helping me and he can build anything!! Will have him make some shelves. What is Sweet PDZ though and where do I find it?

You will LOVE the PDZ. It's kind of a sandy-type material. They use it in horse stalls to cut the odor. It's safe for chickens and OK for composting when you scoop the poop out. (It sticks to the poo). You can get it at most farm stores like Southern States or Tractor Supply Company - probably wherever horse stuff is sold. Most people have said on here that they use a kitty-litter scooper and just quickly scoop it out every morning. I also use a kitchen strainer (very fine holes) about once/week to get the little pieces of poo out, as they seem to accumulate, too. 2-3" in the poop-tray is sufficient. Good luck! Be sure the shelves/poo-tray have sides otherwise all the PDZ will end up on the floor! The chickens are forever scratching anywhere that is scratchable!

 

[mbcmama]

Yeah that's what I was thinking too! Gonna try it today!

 

[hotlantachicken]

very nice. here is a look at mine also

 

[duckiewhomp]

I have read all 100 brilliant pages here and just got chickens today (they're 4 weeks old). Here are my pics of the poop board that they're probably too young to use yet!

First, I framed out a 24"x65" space at the back of my coop (coop is 8'x6'):


Then I overbuilt it by installing braces at 45-degree angles:


Then I built a "drawer" out of 1x4 and OSB. It fits snugly, but I can take it out easily enough:


And here's the finished poop board with a temporary "training" roost (it will be converted to a longer 2x4 board once they get bigger). I used a full 40-pound bag of granulated stall dry (the local co-op doesn't carry Sweet PDZ):


Thanks, all, for your great suggestions! I couldn't have done this without you!

 

[Alaskan]

I haven't read thru all 99 pages of this thread, but had a question! My girls (3 big girls laying and 3 not yet) all want to lay eggs and nest in my poop tray! We have nesting boxes below and a roost bar with poop tray filled with sand and PDZ above. They all scratch around and sit in the sand and the big girls lag their eggs up there too ( when they aren't on strike for us getting new girls). We have put golf balls in the nesting boxes too. The rest of the run/coop has the deep litter method in it that they don't poop much. We clean the poop out every other day but YUCK!!!

My chickens are all higgledy piggledy this year (long story) but the result is that my laying pullets only have one very lame nest box (for over 10 pullets). They lay on the poop tray and I am super happy.

I can always find the eggs, no stooping and looking in dark nest boxes. And, as long as I clean the poop tray often enough, the eggs are very clean.

Is your poop tray not wide enough? Mine is a full 2 feet wide, and they like to lay the eggs close to the back edge, so out of the main pooping area. Also, I started keeping a thicker layer(over 2 inch deep) of PDZ in the tray.