Poop Tray Idea

[Smokerbill]

I've been slowly finishing up my new coop and had an idea on how to keep the poop tray clean. The two roost bars on my coop will go across the 4 foot width of the taller half of the coop. My thought was to mount a section of plywood under the roost bars, then cut slots through the walls on each side of the poop board. I'd mount a roll of construction paper on the east wall, feed it across the poop board and then out the slot on the west wall (the run-side of the coop). To clean the poop tray I'd just pull the dirtied construction paper through the slot on the run-side of the coop, cut it off and throw the crappy paper into the compost pile. I'd probably make a narrow trap door on the "out" side of the paper to give room for the poop piles.

Does this sound like a workable idea?

 

[Tired old Rooster]

It may work, but as a rule, avoid complexity. What will happen if this construction paper gets a fair bit of runny poop? Will it leak through and adhere to the ply wood? Also, what is the width of the paper on the roll?

 

[Smokerbill]

It may work, but as a rule, avoid complexity. What will happen if this construction paper gets a fair bit of runny poop? Will it leak through and adhere to the ply wood? Also, what is the width of the paper on the roll?

Good points. Paper is 36" wide, I think. Never considered poop causing the paper to stick and that I should adhere to the KISS principle. That's why I posted it here. Thanks!

Sounds like a slid-out tray would be the way to go.

 

[Tired old Rooster]

Good points. Paper is 36" wide, I think. Never considered poop causing the paper to stick and that I should adhere to the KISS principle. That's why I posted it here. Thanks!

Sounds like a slid-out tray would be the way to go.

Maybe a slide out tray, with a sheet of the smooth GRP sheet glued on the surface would work great. Simply slide out and scrape off into the compost pile.

Also, check on whether 36 inches is enough for two roosts. I know that you need 12 inches on either side when using a single roost. I could be wrong so please check, but I think 12 inches on the outside of the roosts, with 16 inches between them is okay. That brings you to needing a total of forty inches. Hopefully someone can confirm that.

 

[Poppy Putentake]

You might consider doing somethig like that but with this material, which is fairly cheap, but flexible, durable, waterproof, and easy to clean. It's not advertised for exterior use, but it has lasted outside for me for a year so far (and your application would be inside the coop anyway). I've also used it as a bottom lining for nesting boxes to make them easy to clean.
You could use this with just one trap door on one side. (You might find yourself going into the coop to get it back into place just right, but it would still save time.) The material is stiff enough that you could use it by itself, no need to attach to plywood.

The only other thing I'd suggest is to make sure any openings into the coop are predator-tight.

 

[Smokerbill]

You might consider doing somethig like that but with this material, which is fairly cheap, but flexible, durable, waterproof, and easy to clean. It's not advertised for exterior use, but it has lasted outside for me or a year so far (and your application would be inside the coop anyway). I've also used it as a bottom lining for nesting boxes to make them easy to clean.
You could use this with just one trap door on one side. (You might find yourself going into the coop to get it back into place just right, but it would still save time.) The material is stiff enough that you could use it by itself, no need to attach to plywood.

The only other thing I'd suggest is to make sure any openings into the coop are predator-tight.

Maybe a slide out tray, with a sheet of the smooth GRP sheet glued on the surface would work great. Simply slide out and scrape off into the compost pile.

Also, check on whether 36 inches is enough for two roosts. I know that you need 12 inches on either side when using a single roost. I could be wrong so please check, but I think 12 inches on the outside of the roosts, with 16 inches between them is okay. That brings you to needing a total of forty inches. Hopefully someone can confirm that.

I actually considered lining the entire coop with this material, Coroplast Corrugated Twinwall Plastic. Rated weather resistant, and for use in animal cage floors. $30 for a 4x8 sheet. It's used to cover the bottom of RVs, so it has to be pretty durable stuff.

Because of the size of my coop I'll never actually get completely inside the thing. My design is such that the wall panels will be removable, either in 4x4 or 2x4 (feet) sections.

Thank you both for your input. I still have a few weeks to finalize my design plan and construction. I just moved my chicks to one-half of the coop, set up kind of like a second-stage brooder. I'll be able to work on the remaining half of the coop and the run in the time being. My hardware cloth is supposed to arrive today, so I can get the run finished in the next week, and give the chicks some running room outside their 16 square foot coop space.