Poop Board or no Poop Board

[teach1rusl]

Well, I'm no spring chicken, so I LOVE not having to bend over to clean up overnight droppings. I use dropping boards in my main coop and in my bantam coop. I have used a converted doghouse-coop in my grow-out pen, and I hated trying to clean the droppings up (because it doesn't have a dropping board).
Big girl side of main coop:

Newbie side of main coop:

Bantam coop dropping board:

 

[henney penny]

My poop boards and yes they make a huge differance in the amount of amonia smell and humidity in the winter time.

 

[henney penny]

And the helpers

 

[ll]

I use this with a long handled scoop ...
There is a mixture of DE and sand in it ~ no bending when using my long handled scooper and the "fumes" are far down from the roost.

 

[Farmer Mike]

I use the deep litter method so I just turn over the area with a pitch fork every couple of days. But I have only been doing this for about 4 months so we shall see what works...the ammonia smell will likely dictate the changes.

 

[Hopefulloflove]

WOW~ Thanks for the pictures! Steve, lol...you leave no room for guessing as to how yours works

I do have another question (of course)...does the board need to removable? Also, What is the best material to have the board made of? Thanks! again!!

 

[teach1rusl]

I wanted mine to be removable so I could hose them down every once in a while. I'm sure a good porch paint on just plywood would work just fine. Any smooth type surface would work. Some lay scrap vinyl flooring on plywood. I used scrap plywood as a base, screwed into place, and then just have a fitted sheet of white masonite type paneling (the same stuff I used on my coop walls) sitting on top of that. So although I scrape daily, I can easily take the paneling pieces outside once a month or so for a better clean/rinse-off.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

I am planning to use two washingmachine pans - the ones that go under washing machines to catch the overflow water. They are light weight and I can just remove them, dump everything out, hose them off and replace them. I am using them now as the basis of my brooder which is in the spot where the roosts are going to be.

Here's a picture where you can see the pans clearly

 

[Renee']

At my house, poop boards are a must. I have two coops. I keep a bucket (approximately 1.5 gallon), with a lid, by the door of the coop with a drywall mud applicator spatula for scraping up the poop. One coop has the board lined with the sticky backed linoleum floor squares. The other board is lined with that plastic floor runner stuff. Both scrape off well. If I build another coop, the poop board will be lined with the plastic floor runner stuff becuase it's tacked down with a few staples that can be easily removed for cleaning (I've never taken it out to clean it though.) I scrape my board every morning so the girls don't have to sit in a stinky coop while they lay their eggs. I'll try to upload pics tonight.

 

[fireguy56]

Hi, I went with what I call "poop trays". Old cafeteria trays that are easily removed for cleaning and washing off. Wouldn't go any other way. Can't see myself of wife scooping poop off of floor under roosts every day. We scrape them once a week or sooner as needed. Very easy and all ends up in compost pile. Here's a photo of our set up. Good luck with your decision.
Erik