Poop Board or not?

[Rise722]

I would like the Pros and Cons of having a poop board under the roost....

 

[DobieLover]

Poop board all the way.
Only pros. No cons.

You can inspect the poop each morning to see if there are any issues with a bird.
You can clean the poop load easily and compost it.
In a properly designed coop you can stand to clean the boards. No stooping is always a plus.
You don't have to clean the coop out as frequently.

 

[jreardon1918]

couple years ago we removed them and left just the roosts. We also had a small flock. Turns out the coop floor is dry, not smelly. We now have 6 pullets and two hens. Will replace the shavings every 6 months. So, for us, we do not miss the poop boards.

YMMV

 

[My Three Chicks]

Yes to poop board for me! Just make sure it's wide enough so that when they face the 'wrong ' way it doesn't miss the board

 

[aart]

You can inspect the poop each morning to see if there are any issues with a bird.
You can clean the poop load easily and compost it.
In a properly designed coop you can stand to clean the boards. No stooping is always a plus.
You don't have to clean the coop out as frequently.

Ditto to all Dat^^^
Plus I feel it improves air quality.
Also provides more 'floor space', especially during the nasty winters we get here as my run is not weather protected.

couple years ago we removed them and left just the roosts. We also had a small flock. Turns out the coop floor is dry, not smelly. We now have 6 pullets and two hens. Will replace the shavings every 6 months. So, for us, we do not miss the poop boards.

YMMV

I imagine with smaller flocks a poop board would not be as advantageous.
I have never had fewer than 12 birds.

 

[saysfaa]

All of above pros.
Plus cleaner feet because the concentrated dumps are picked up. Maybe. That might depend on whether you have deep bedding, whether the chickens turn it over, how much time the chickens spend in the coop. And whether they fly up for morning conversations when you start to scrape or scoop. Two of mine are like cats laying on the keyboard in this way - they like to put themselves where ever it is I am looking.

Lol, aart, just the other day, I was thinking how much I like the poop board under my five and wondering if it was better for smaller numbers.

One con. The person who does the chicken chores when I am not home does not do cleaning the poop board (unless I'm gone more than several days). An uncleaned board is decided worse than no board under hens; not so much for little pullet poops. The hens' leavings will dry out on it like the pullets' but takes a while.

To be fair, I've never not had one. I like how it works but it probably isn't the only way that works well.

 

[Krugerrand]

I'm capped in how many chickens I can have and thus built my coop sized for 4 hens. It's small enough that I keep the floor covered with sweet pdz. Thus, the entire floor is a poop board.

 

[Rise722]

I can only have 4-5 hens, so I just wonder if it's worth building this in. I'm getting a lot of good ideas and different views. Thanks!

 

[henless]

The coop I have now is smaller and has a floor. I use a poop board so the deep bedding stays cleaner. Before, when I had my 3 open air coops, they were all on a dirt floor. I did not use a poop board and never had to clean it unless I needed compost.

It really depends on what kind of set up you have. Try it with and then without and see which you like best.

 

[Krugerrand]

The coop I have now is smaller and has a floor. I use a poop board so the deep bedding stays cleaner. Before, when I had my 3 open air coops, they were all on a dirt floor. I did not use a poop board and never had to clean it unless I needed compost.

It really depends on what kind of set up you have. Try it with and then without and see which you like best.

It's great that you're doing good planning. That helps a lot. At the same time, henless makes a great point .... you can change how you do things. If something does not work well for you, try something else.