Question about cleaning bedding in the coop

[Fluttershy17]

I’ve searched the forums, and haven’t really found an answer to this. I have Pine shavings in my coop, but what can I use to get the poop out of the shavings? I tried making a make shift sifter from chicken wire, but the poop and shavings both fall through. If I make the holes any smaller, the poop will not fall through. Other than picking out the poop by hand, which would take FOREVER, does anyone have suggestions?

 

[Duckfarmer1]

I literally just, while wearing my work gloves, just grab up the poppy areas and take hay around it to make sure I got al the seepage or whatever was left.. I want it clean...

 

[IamRainey]

I just let the shavings dry out the little nuggets. When they're dry they don't smell. Then you could even pick them out if you care to. Wear gloves if it makes you feel better.

When I get tired of looking at them I rake it all down into the run and let the hens scratch it into the soil and add clean shavings to the coop and nesting boxes.

 

[Lizzy733]

Shovel it - or use a hand-rake to scrape out any well-soiled bedding into a wheelbarrow and move it off to the compost pile. Re-fill with new material. You don't have to clear out 'all' the poo every go, just the parts that are starting to build up. Granted, my flock is small, but I spend maybe 5 minutes every two weeks on cleaning and shavings are cheap.

 

[Fluttershy17]

Shovel it - or use a hand-rake to scrape out any well-soiled bedding into a wheelbarrow and move it off to the compost pile. Re-fill with new material. You don't have to clear out 'all' the poo every go, just the parts that are starting to build up. Granted, my flock is small, but I spend maybe 5 minutes every two weeks on cleaning and shavings are cheap.

I’ve got seven 6 week old birds right now, so not too many. I think I’ll give your method a try! Thanks!

 

[ChickNanny13]

I use these long tongs ... Pick up the big stuff & keep adding shavings into their Chicken House as needed. I do have a poop board under a roost but the current 4 pullets I have still insisting on sleeping at the door, on the ground. I just rake the area once a week, add PDZ but that's about all I do.

It rains alot here, water wicks into their CH which is hard clay dirt, IF the shavings get soaked, I rake it out, dry on a tarp in the patio with fans, add more shavings in the CH ... I do reuse the dried stuff back into the CH or use as mulch in the yard.

I do ferment FR; no smell no flies ... Have been doing this for a few years now

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I end up putting a lot of pine shavings into the compost with the poop. I found a tiny rake at a garden center and it gathers more poop than shavings, and I settle for that.

 

[Lizzy733]

I end up putting a lot of pine shavings into the compost with the poop. I found a tiny rake at a garden center and it gathers more poop than shavings, and I settle for that.

Tiny rakes for the win!

 

[Cryss]

I have always used a kitty litter scoop I had lying around. Poop stays in the scoop, most pine shavings fall off as I shake it a bit because they are so lightweight. The poop is heavy enough to stay inside the scoop.

I recently completed my walk in coop. I now have just-above-waist-height poop boards underneath the roosts, a real back saver! The poop boards are covered in about a quarter inch of PDZ. Soooo easy! Kitty litter scoop picks up poop, PDZ falls through. Meanwhile the coop floor still has pine chips but, seriously, the gals rarely poop there. I might scoop up one or two bits every few days but they do most of their pooping as they sleep on the roost. I let them out at daybreak so they wake up and run outside to eat and drink...and poop!

My rooster is in his bachelor pad coop that isn't able to employ a poop board, so I still use the scoop in the pine chips, it still works fine.

 

[DobieLover]

I’ve searched the forums, and haven’t really found an answer to this. I have Pine shavings in my coop, but what can I use to get the poop out of the shavings? I tried making a make shift sifter from chicken wire, but the poop and shavings both fall through. If I make the holes any smaller, the poop will not fall through. Other than picking out the poop by hand, which would take FOREVER, does anyone have suggestions?

I don't clean the pine shavings in my coop. I use poop boards. About 97% of the poop in the coop ends up on the boards that are covered with sand/PDZ. It is a breeze to kitty litter scoop the boards "clean" in the morning.
However, I have a completely predator proof run attached to my coop so my birds don't really spend a lot of time in the coop. As soon as they come off the roost in the morning, they go out to the covered run and hang out. So most of the poop done while they are active is outside.
I moved my flock into their new coop on Easter Sunday this year and added another 19 chicks to my existing flock of 10. I have 29 chickens pooping away in my coop. I will sweep the shavings out sometime in November (to get most of the feathers that are all over the place from the molt) and put new bedding down but I really don't need to. There really isn't much poop in it. I just want new fluffy bedding for winter.
Moral of this story: poop boards are a godsend for keeping the coop clean, dry and odor free. I would never want to try to sift poop out of pine shavings. Sounds like a tedious exercise.