Poop Boards

[Farmgirl1878]

I’m wondering what kind of sand people use for their poop boards. I’m making almost like a rectangle “litter box” that goes under the roost to catch the poop and i wanted to use some sort of sand or something. Anyone have any ideas?

We use natural, washed, coarse grain, river sand in the coop, run, poop decks, and in the nest boxes. Whatever you end up using, it’s best to get something that has different sized particles and has been washed. Ours looks like this:

We buy it from our local quarry 14-tons at a time, delivered. We also use sand along the pathway to to coop and barnyard and in front of the chicken house. Our soil is all clay, so we till some into the garden every year too.

Here’s our current poop deck set up. It’s two levels, each is about 4’ by 4’ and each level has two roosts. I am planning on reconfiguring this Spring as I now have five huge Brahma girls that loooooove to jump down off the highest level. The plan is to not have a poop deck at all since the floor is all sand anyway.

 

[Sally PB]

Thank you! Not to be dense … but referring to “pile,” you mean the coop bedding, correct?

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I meant the poop and whatever else you put in your compost pile.

If your compost pile just sits there, it takes a long time to break down. For the decomposition to happen, there have to be a few things in play:

Stuff (the poop, leaves, grass, whatever you put in the pile)
Oxygen (this is where the exercise comes in: turning the pile every couple days to aerate)
Water (a dry pile won't break down, or will do it very slowly)
The microorganisms that break things down (also worms and other bugs)

I scoop the poop off the board every day, dump it in a bucket that has a lid. When the bucket is full, I take it to my compost bin and chuck it in. This time of year, it's mostly poop with some pine shavings (bedding), plus whatever kitchen scraps that I don't give to the chickens.

During garden season, I have a much more diverse pile of poop and leaves and garden debris.

 

[Devorah]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I meant the poop and whatever else you put in your compost pile.

If your compost pile just sits there, it takes a long time to break down. For the decomposition to happen, there have to be a few things in play:

Stuff (the poop, leaves, grass, whatever you put in the pile)
Oxygen (this is where the exercise comes in: turning the pile every couple days to aerate)
Water (a dry pile won't break down, or will do it very slowly)
The microorganisms that break things down (also worms and other bugs)

I scoop the poop off the board every day, dump it in a bucket that has a lid. When the bucket is full, I take it to my compost bin and chuck it in. This time of year, it's mostly poop with some pine shavings (bedding), plus whatever kitchen scraps that I don't give to the chickens.

During garden season, I have a much more diverse pile of poop and leaves and garden debris.

Thank you! You have been very clear - and I appreciate your time!

 

[Granny23]

I use plain play ground sand from HD. Comes in 50lb
bags.

Ok. Now I know what a poop board is....duh. Lol.

 

[Granny23]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I meant the poop and whatever else you put in your compost pile.

If your compost pile just sits there, it takes a long time to break down. For the decomposition to happen, there have to be a few things in play:

Stuff (the poop, leaves, grass, whatever you put in the pile)
Oxygen (this is where the exercise comes in: turning the pile every couple days to aerate)
Water (a dry pile won't break down, or will do it very slowly)
The microorganisms that break things down (also worms and other bugs)

I scoop the poop off the board every day, dump it in a bucket that has a lid. When the bucket is full, I take it to my compost bin and chuck it in. This time of year, it's mostly poop with some pine shavings (bedding), plus whatever kitchen scraps that I don't give to the chickens.

During garden season, I have a much more diverse pile of poop and leaves and garden debris.

In your opinion is pine shavings better than straw for the coop floor? I try and keep straw under my roosting bars and fork it out a couple times a week. One of my hens was laying from the roost so I needed to have a soft landing spot for the egg .

 

[Sally PB]

In your opinion is pine shavings better than straw for the coop floor? I try and keep straw under my roosting bars and fork it out a couple times a week. One of my hens was laying from the roost so I needed to have a soft landing spot for the egg

I've never used straw for bedding, so I can't give first hand advice. I've read that it can be damp and get moldy, so I crossed it off my list. Maybe in a really dry climate, it might work well. Some people use it for nesting box material.

I used one bale of hemp, and that was GREAT! It is also EXPENSIVE, so it was just the one bale. I've always used pine shavings. Any poop that ends up on the floor dries out very well. I have 4-6" of shavings on the coop floor, and I would think an egg dropped on it would survive intact, as long as it had a good shell.

Since most of the poop in the coop is on the poop board, I don't have to clean out the coop very often. Once a year seems to be fine. I'll be doing it sometime this summer.

 

[Granny23]

I've never used straw for bedding, so I can't give first hand advice. I've read that it can be damp and get moldy, so I crossed it off my list. Maybe in a really dry climate, it might work well. Some people use it for nesting box material.

I used one bale of hemp, and that was GREAT! It is also EXPENSIVE, so it was just the one bale. I've always used pine shavings. Any poop that ends up on the floor dries out very well. I have 4-6" of shavings on the coop floor, and I would think an egg dropped on it would survive intact, as long as it had a good shell.

Since most of the poop in the coop is on the poop board, I don't have to clean out the coop very often. Once a year seems to be fine. I'll be doing it sometime this summer.

Thank you.
I started out with pine? shavings but read that it wasn't good for a variety of reasons so I switched to straw. One bale lasts me a long time and I love the smell but my girls make a big mess with it. Trying to keep it in one place is impossible...you know how chickens are with piles. But a poop board could solve that. It should be up in the air but under the roost right? Or should it be on the ground? But on the ground means they can get in it.....
My RIR's haven't laid any eggs from the roost in the last week either.....

 

[Sally PB]

Here's a picture of my poop board. Complete with poop, of course!

There's some sweet PDZ on it, and that pretty much takes care of the ammonia smell. Most of the poop is on the board; what they drop into the pine shavings dries out, crumbles into dust, and ends up on the bottom of the bedding.

 

[mldlm]

Sorry, jumping in on the conversation. I am new to chickens. My husband is converting half of his 8x10 shed for my 4 girls. I am splitting the shed with him. My chicken coop side will lead out to a run, but inside it has a plywood floor. I am very interested in the poop boards, I would like to use sand for the poop board, and pine shavings for the rest of the coop floor. I have seen a lot of postings about PDZ. What is it and where do I find it? How do I use it for the poop boards? Any thoughts or information is appreciated!

 

[aart]

I have seen a lot of postings about PDZ. What is it and where do I find it? How do I use it for the poop boards? Any thoughts or information is appreciated!

It is the mineral zeolite.
Can be found in most farm stores in the horse section.
Sweet PDZ