Poop boards and nesting boxes

[Chicken Egg 17]

I am looking to put in poop boards under the roost and I was wonder how do you put them in should they be flush with the roost or a couple inches lower than the roost and I have a 4x8 coop and space is limited so I am looking to put the nesting boxes in the corner of the house away from the roost so no poop is in the nest boxes and with how I am building the boxes I am going to put legs on a board and set it in the corner of there house and then take red plastic wash tubs and set them on the stand and somehow attach some little boards in between each box for privacy and to keep the boxes from tipping over so has any one else done this kind of nesting boxes all replies are welcome thanks

 

[cavemanrich]

There are many easier ways to construct nesting boxes than what you describe. First, there are some questions , after which I will give you some advice or answers.
A 4 x 8 coop is not exactly small. but how many chickens are you keeping.??? You need about one nest for every 3 to 4 chickens average.
Nesting boxes are comfortably placed about 1 foot off the floor . This way you don't get scratched soiling flung into nests.
With your nesting boxes ( lets say 4 ) placed on the floor, They should be covered. On top of these you can place poop shelves..
Ideally they would have a border to hold a content of sand, PDZ, or wood shavings to catch the gumdrops. The medium makes for easy cleanup. They can be simply boards, holding nothing but cleaning gets more effort scraping dried doodles. One easy alternative is to use cardboard or newspapers that you simply gather up and throw away. Have your roost not too high above the poop holders. 4 inches would be fine. REASON.. You don't want your chickens to be encouraged to getting onto poop boards and scratching. The low clearance will discourage that.
If you would post some pix of the interior of your coop, then more peep could give their opinions on what worked for them..
WISHING YOU BEST.

ps. Don't hesitate to ask anything you don't know.

 

[chicklover 1998]

I am looking to put in poop boards under the roost and I was wonder how do you put them in should they be flush with the roost or a couple inches lower than the roost and I have a 4x8 coop and space is limited so I am looking to put the nesting boxes in the corner of the house away from the roost so no poop is in the nest boxes and with how I am building the boxes I am going to put legs on a board and set it in the corner of there house and then take red plastic wash tubs and set them on the stand and somehow attach some little boards in between each box for privacy and to keep the boxes from tipping over so has any one else done this kind of nesting boxes all replies are welcome thanks

about 6 in. is sufficient or about 15 cm and they should be about 2 ft wide that way all gets caught there should also be a lip on it if you are putting something like shavings or PDZ under them

 

[chicklover 1998]

I use 5 gallon buckets for nest boxes they work great


occasionally they kick an egg out but that could be easily fixed by cutting the lid a bit wider in the first place but it works for me.

 

[cavemanrich]

2 feet should pretty much capture all the discharged missiles. and a lip will contain the litter.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Ok thanks but does it have to be to feet wide as my roost are probably only about 3-4 inches apart and the door opens up and the roost are right in front of the door probably about 2-2/1/2 feet away from the door so does it have to be 2 feet wide thanks though

 

[chicklover 1998]

well you could make an extended pop board just so that it sticks al the way over to the wall on the three sides and the stick out a foot on the side away from the wall or do you mean you have your roosts directly in front of the human door because it isn't a problem if it is above the chicken door.

 

[cavemanrich]

Just make it as space allows you. If you see that it misses some, then figure how you can modify to suit your needs.

 

[chicklover 1998]

well you could make an extended pop board just so that it sticks al the way over to the wall on the three sides and the stick out a foot on the side away from the wall or do you mean you have your roosts directly in front of the human door because it isn't a problem if it is above the chicken door.

I know Im kinda confusing it would be touching the wall on three sides and the one side pointing to the center of the coop will be a foot from the last roost bar

 

[chicklover 1998]

Just make it as space allows you. If you see that it misses some, then figure how you can modify to suit your needs.

X2