Question about Poop Boards

[4theloveofhens]

Sorry, I'm sure this issue has been addressed a million times but I am a newbie. I am confused when it comes to poop boards. So I think I am going to use laminate counter top as my flooring for the 4 x 4 coop. Do I put an additional "special" easily removable "board" under the roost because that's where they'll poop the most? On my flooring I was going to put pine shavings, so does that mean my poop tray/board will sit on top of the shavings directly underneath the roost? If anyone has any pictures to better explain this phenomenon I would appreciate it!

Thanks!

 

[JMPE]

I'm not the best person to answer this since I don't use boards myself (but I may get there soon), but the idea is to have a board that is either easily removable or reachable to scrape off droppings as often as needed. I have seen boards that are simply placed on top of the litter and boards that are mounted under the roosts. Whatever works best for you in your coop is the right answer.

 

[kfchickenlady]

Ditto to above poster, I think the reasoning is to keep the flooring/shavings cleaner. I havent got there yet either, but its a great idea!

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
We have a droppings board and I love, love, love it! It is a removable shelf, essentially, that slides under the roost to catch the nightly droppings. Every morning, I scrape it out into a pail and dump it in our compost heap behind the coop. Every few months, I take it out, hose it down and whitewash it with DE.
It works like a charm! AND it saves $$$ given that we use a LOT LESS shavings.

This was the droppings pit. The entire thing was removable, top frame was covered in chicken wire (intended to keep the chickens from walking on their poop while opening up more "walkable" space on the floor). The poop got stuck in the wire and matted with shavings that were kicked onto the poop on the board. Total mess. Didn't work as planned, so we switched to the droppings board. Now there's useable floor space under the boards, we use a lot less shavings and we change the shavings much less often!

 

[patandchickens]

having laminate as the flooring does not dispense with the need for bedding (shavings or whatever) all over the floor -- bare laminate will be waaaaaay too slippery for the birds and also a pain to clean.

It's up to you whether to use a droppings board as well. In larger coops IMO it is a no-brainer, as it saves a lot of time and bedding and improves air quality; but in a small coop like yours, you have to think about whether there is room to gracefully PUT one without interfering with chickens' use of space. If you DID have one, in that size coop I would advise cleaning it daily (which is really the most useful thing anyhow IMHO). It would need to be under the roost but high enough above the coop floor to let the chickens walk under it (otherwise it is kinda pointless, in that size coop anyhow)

If you do not want to use a droppings board, just clean out the poo that falls onto the bedding under the roost. However often you need to, probably every few days but it depends a lot on your chickens' behavior and how humid your climate is. You *could* put a catch tray of some sort on the floor under the roost so you could *remove* it for cleaning, but it'd have to be arranged so that the chickens can't tip it over, and you'd probably want some bedding in it (so they don't get poo caked on their feet as much and so that they still feel comfortable using that part of the floor area) and frankly if you're going to do that I think that it'd be simplest just to skip the removeable aspect and merely clean that area of floor bedding more often

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[4theloveofhens]

Quote:
I wouldn't just put laminate on the floor - I was going to put that on the plywood, and then my shavings on top of that. Maybe I should just use the laminate flooring as my droppings board instead? Is there a really good use for having the bottom of your coop laminated with shavings on top? I'm just worried bare plywood will soak up smell and moisture. I think I'll be able to make a droppings board work and still allow the girls their "floor" room!

Thanks!

 

[Jesseanne]

Just yesterday, my husband and I put a droppings board under the roosts. I already love it. I know that this is really gonna be a plus in several ways. I won't have to clean out the shavings so often, their coop will smell much better, the coop will be cleaner and our hens will be happier and healthier! It took me about 20 seconds to scrape the poop into a bucket and dump it into our compost pile. After a year of having to change out our shavings every month or so I am so glad to have a poop board. Think of the money we will save on shavings! I would definitely reccommend putting one in your coop!

 

[sixinva]

I used my neighbors old formica countertop he had hanging out in his garage. It is perfect. I scrape it a couple/few times a week, and it really works great. Highly reccomend it if you have the room.

 

[chicknerd]

Sorry I dont have pics, but this is our system: We have a typical 4x6 coop. My DH made two wooden trays that fit perfectly on the floor of the coop and yet fit through the large human access door. They have handles so they are easy to grab and pull out. I white washed them with DE mixture. I pull them out once a week, empty them into the tractor bucket and the poop comes right off. Makes cleanup a breeze. I cannot walk in, so this is the easiest way to clean the entire coop. I then put them back in, drop a little extra DE powder, and then throw in the pine shavings. Very fast and quick clean up.

We are currently in the process of deciding if we want(ie NEED) a bigger coop. I would love to have a walk in coop. I would definite put down linoleum if I had a walk in.

 

[sydney13]

i just use the nest box as the poop boards as you can see here although i do have another roost with no board