Really dumb question about poop boards

[lynseystone]

I have been wondering about this and now that we are finally getting our chicken coop built I want to ask even though it sounds so stupid. Is there a reason people use poop boards under the roosts that need to be swept off in the morning instead of just putting newspaper down on the ground under the roosts at night and then picking it up and throwing it away the next day? I am very curious about this!
Thanks for any input!

 

[Hokum Coco]

I have poop boards 3½" below my roost that I clean every 2 to 3 days (excellent for catching eggs laid through the night).

It also expedites in keeping over half of the manure your chickens create out of the coop; out of your and the chickens environment. In my set up.

In my nest boxes I fold a feed bag to fit (nest boxes are 1 ft³). When a bag gets soiled; fold a new one; pop out the soiled; pop in the new.

Easy peasy!.

Chicken coop is salvaged 4x8 metal shed.

 

[chynasparks]

The poop board is great! I learned about it on BYC and my hubby built what I call a poop caddy. It's a roost attached to a box. It can be taken out and cleaned if needed but I haven't had to. I put play sand DE and sweet PDZ. No odor. Recently I freshens it up with more PDZ because I started to notice amonia smell. News paper doesn't absorb liquid. They may walk around on the paper. My poop board fits enough for their bottoms to drop there poo in the litter and no where else. The nest/roost area stays clean. All I have to do is scoop like cat litter. I really think thst over time news paper method will get messy and tiresome.

 

[JessesGirl]

Somewhere on here I saw someone mention a "poop swing" they built out of feed bags (the plastic-y kind, not the paper kind) so I gave it a try. It was easy. Use grommets to put four holes in each corner (I bought a 100 piece grommet set at Menards for $8) and then hang them under the roost. You can use rope to hang them, I had lightweight chain and "S" hooks so I used that. They catch the poop all night and every few days just take them down and hose them off. Easy! The girls weren't sure what to think of them at first, but they wanted to go to bed more than they wanted to fuss over the bags so there was no drama about it.

 

[chynasparks]

Sounds cool. There's a lot of different methods out there. Post a pic of your poop swing if you can. Would love to see it. I think the point of all the methods is containment. Containment in a way that keeps the flock from walking around in their waste. I also learned early on from the good posters on BYC is, they poop more when roosting. And that is so true. Mine leave BIG droppings all in a neat line in the poop board. And lots more than down in the run all day. Question; is your poop swing good for absorbing liquid and odor?

 

[write2caroline]

I think the poop board idea is a great idea. I use deep litter because my coops are up off the ground and they are boxes 4x4x4. If I could find a way to incorporate it - I would. I found for my coops it would inhibit the chickens ability to get around in the coop.

In considering them, I will say that poop building up creates ammonia and that and heat will hurt your chickens - I learned that the hard way last summer.

Anything that makes keeping the coops clean easier gets applause from me.

People on the forum have shown really great innovative ways to use them. I have seen hammock like things and angled boards.

Applause Applause to the innovators and creative thinkers!

Caroline

 

[JessesGirl]

poop swing is not good for absorbing liquids or odor.....but toss some straw or anything absorbent in there and it's fine. i'll try to take a pic when i get home tonight.

 

[chynasparks]

I knew next to nothing when I started. Everything we set up for our coop came from BYC posts. And I had to think it out for myself; what am I willing to do everyday. What can my yard tolerate, ect. So the poop board won. The important thing for me was to do what I know I can live with 6 months from now when this all becomes routine. Picking up stinky news paper quickly lost the the coin toss. I know me. I know if it is too much like work I'll tire of it. Well, I'm not tired of it . Scooping every couple of days, raking sand in the run a couple of times a month is awesome. I like the feeding and watering cause I'm in there spending time with them. Deep litter sounds great but in my small coop it wasn't what I wanted. Fortunately, there's no real wrong way with these methods as long as you're keeping up with any needed maintenance or cleaning. News paper would need daily up and I know I'd tire of that soon.