Has anyone had success with using poop boards for New Hampshire meat bird strain from Freedom Ranger Hatchery or similar meat chickens? These are really hefty chickens - when mature they are about the size of CX at ~7-8 weeks. Right now they're perching on top of a ~29"x4ft dog crate with a tray on top of it. 34" off the ground. They're perching at the edge and curling their toes over, with their butts over the plastic tray. The dog crate is my isolation cage/broody area. I've tried a number of things to manage their poop and not been happy with any of them - they make almost as much poop as the CX as far as size of poop goes, maybe less frequency, but not by much. They are in a covered run right now, 10ft wide, 17ft long, 6ft tall and get plenty of ventilation and predator protection. One of them is even laying at the moment, and it's the middle of December. They have one 5 gallon waterer and one 5 gallon feeder that take up floor space. They also have a number of stumps about a foot tall to make things interesting.
My idea is set up a scoopable poop board with a perch over it basically right on top of the dog crate (like an inch higher than the crate for clearance), filled with Zeolite (Sweet PDZ), like one would do with eggers. Since they're so hefty, I would make the 2"x4" perch boards about 4-6" taller than the Zeolite. However, I'm not sure how close to make the perches to each other. I was thinking two 2x4 perches laid flat, 4 ft long, set 12" apart over 36"x54"x1" of Zeolite. I'm kinda worried the hens might get stuck between the perches, as they're not very agile, and I can't decide on 2 perches or 3 over that area, spaced equal distance from each other. I also want the perches to be far enough apart to prevent feather picking. The bodies of the chickens when perched are about 13" long from breast to vent (ignoring the feathers) and 9" wide at the shoulders. When they perch on a 2"x4", it is 6" from where the toe curls over the front of the board to the vent of the chicken.
I have 4-5 birds in there right now that perch on the dog crate, probably would go up to 15 when growing out chicks. Sometimes I have one hen who doesn't get up on top of the dog crate and perches on a foot tall stump instead. What would you guys recommend?
Attached is a similar perch I built for my eggers with different dimensions than I plan to do for the meat birds. Showing the peel and stick vinyl that will be under the 1" of Zeolite and the basic idea I'm starting from.
My idea is set up a scoopable poop board with a perch over it basically right on top of the dog crate (like an inch higher than the crate for clearance), filled with Zeolite (Sweet PDZ), like one would do with eggers. Since they're so hefty, I would make the 2"x4" perch boards about 4-6" taller than the Zeolite. However, I'm not sure how close to make the perches to each other. I was thinking two 2x4 perches laid flat, 4 ft long, set 12" apart over 36"x54"x1" of Zeolite. I'm kinda worried the hens might get stuck between the perches, as they're not very agile, and I can't decide on 2 perches or 3 over that area, spaced equal distance from each other. I also want the perches to be far enough apart to prevent feather picking. The bodies of the chickens when perched are about 13" long from breast to vent (ignoring the feathers) and 9" wide at the shoulders. When they perch on a 2"x4", it is 6" from where the toe curls over the front of the board to the vent of the chicken.
I have 4-5 birds in there right now that perch on the dog crate, probably would go up to 15 when growing out chicks. Sometimes I have one hen who doesn't get up on top of the dog crate and perches on a foot tall stump instead. What would you guys recommend?
Attached is a similar perch I built for my eggers with different dimensions than I plan to do for the meat birds. Showing the peel and stick vinyl that will be under the 1" of Zeolite and the basic idea I'm starting from.
