Poop Board Lining material

[RoosterML]

I have a question about those of you who use sand for under your roost on your poop boards. I am currently using pine flakes which seems to keep the poop elevated and allows for it to dry out. Unless for some reason it's bad in the coop or gets stinky I have been scraping thru and picking out the poop once a week. In doing so I take out roughly 2 -5 gallon pails of poop but a majority of the 2 pails is pine flakes. Question to the sand users. Are you guys able to use like a pooper scooper and just remove the poop? Kinda little a litter box for a cat. Do you change all the sand? What do you do? Also how thick do you put the sand? Does the poop dry out or does it stay kinda wet being on the sand ? I am not apposed to changing over to sand under poop boards but wouldn't mind some input on what your take is. @aart what say you?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Granular sweet PDZ is what I choose to use. A very thin layer is sufficient to keep the poop from crusting to the board and PDZ also acts to absorb ammonia and and aid the poop in drying more quickly, limiting the moisture put out into the air by the accumulation of waste overnight. For cleaning I use this handy little guy

This is the head of a stall fork with quarter inch hardware cloth zip tied to the underside. It's larger than a regular cat scooper as well as stronger so it makes cleaning that much easier

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

So no more sand? Just an 1/8" layer of sweet pdz?

That is all I use, it doesn't take much PDZ to be effective, in fact the more the less effective it can be because it invites dust bathing in the poop board. It's a lot like using cornmeal in a thin layer on the bottom of a pizza crust to prevent sticking to the pizza Pan… it just creates that little barrier

 

[SueT]

I've been using PDZ instead of but similar to sand. And yes, I just use a cat box scooper. I put it on about an inch or 2 thick. It dries out the poop for sure. PDZ is a horse stall freshener, sold in the equine aisle. It's a mineral called Zeolite. It's granular but also kind of dusty and I recommend wearing a dust mask when scooping.

 

[jreardon1918]

I don't use sand. The roosts are part of the poop boards. I use sweet pdz and a flat poop scooper. Works great.

 

[aart]

Here's I do, at the beginning, then later.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-poop-pictures.621363/page-178#post-18966048

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6...raphic-gross-poop-pictures/1100#post_13179595
Only diff is now I use even less PDZ on the boards 1/16-1/8".

 

[aart]

I spray the boards down with vinegar and wipe them off.

That might be great in FL......but not in a MI winter.
More work than sifting, but probably cheaper.

 

[aart]

So no more sand? Just an 1/8" layer of sweet pdz?

Yep, couldn't find the good sand that I used at the start anymore...so just went to straight PDZ. Started using less as the cost stacks up and it wasn't really needed.... and using less makes sifting quicker as I sift the entire volume of PDZ on the boards daily.

That is all I use, it doesn't take much PDZ to be effective, in fact the more the less effective it can be because it invites dust bathing in the poop board. It's a lot like using cornmeal in a thin layer on the bottom of a pizza crust to prevent sticking to the pizza Pan… it just creates that little barrier

This made me chuckle, great analogy...I often think while sifting 'it's shake and bake, and I helped'

Yes, indeed, the deeper it is the more dust bathing happens,
why I went from 1+" to less than a quarter inch at the beginning.

 

[we3ernes]

I'd leave it as is, some bird roost on the board edges instead of the roosts.
My now retired lumber guy used to rip 2x4's for me, he was really good at it, I used those 1.5 x 1.75's for all kinds of stuff...way better than any nominal 2x2 you could get.

I’ll be ripping stuff down anyway. The guys who did our siding left all their “scaffolding” here, so I have stacks and stacks of beat up 2x8 material. I salvaged whatever I could from the house build to use for future projects!

 

[RoosterML]

Just finished up my first cleaning using PDZ. Kinda reminds me of fine cat littler. I like it. Much less waste will be going into the manure pile. I was starting to get a nice mound of pine chips this should cut back nicely on the waste. I have it roughly 1/4" thick.
Gotta love trying something new and having it work out.