Roost bar and poop board depth question

[ValerieJ]

My roosters both face the wall so their long tails trail over the edge of the poop boards. Never have seen them face the other way.

Here's a riddle. How many chickens can cram into the last four feet of roost space? Answer: Fourteen. Saw this last night after the flock went to bed scared of a predator lurking outside.

I believe it! I bought a really small prefab to segregate an injured chicken once, and when they were all back together I found 6 of them crammed in there. I had to close it up and make them go back to the larger coops.

 

[ValerieJ]

You have all helped us so much! I can't thank you enough for all the tips and advice! It is a bit daunting designing the "last coop I'm ever going to get", according to the builder.

 

[Mimi13]

I have a double roost 12’ long at different heights. Poop board depth is 3’. Back roost is 12” from the wall. The other roost is centered in what remains of the poop board distance. There isn’t quite 12” between the boards or from the front roost to the edge of the poop board. This is due to the width of the 2x4 (narrow side up), so it’s almost all 12” spacing, almost but not quite.

I’m gonna say the biggest drawback and one that I wish I had room to permanently fix would be to separate the two roosts about 15”-18”. I believe that would help with the nighttime pecks as they are trying to get settled to roost. I did spread the roosts out once over the poop board at 4’, but that depth made it too hard for me to clean and took up a valuable one foot of landing space for the chickens so I changed it back.

My boy’s tail feathers do lay over the back roost as he always roosts on the front board facing forward. Sometimes one of the hens will scoot in underneath his tail feathers.

I have made many changes over the 15 months I’ve had birds in the bigger coop. I just can’t be satisfied. This picture is of the poop board at 3’. And my roosts are about 2” higher in this picture than they are now. These are juvenile birds (for pic comparison.)

This picture was made when I was trying out the 4’ poop board and lowered roosts. I did like the added distance between the two roosts.

Now, as far as cleaning the boards I prefer scraping with a 10” metal, scraping knife. I do have an old, broken handled hoe that I used when the board was 4’. However, the results of scraping isn’t near as pretty as a bed of sand/PDZ. Those smears can be rough looking at times! After I scrape the board, I scatter a thin layer of PDZ across the board. It helps by not letting the wet poops stick as bad when it is dropped.

One difference in the two pics above is the edge of the board. I prefer having a “hangover” board so I can just scrape the poop right into the bucket that is held slightly under the front edge. It’s much easier and poop doesn’t get on the finished board edge.

When I cleaned my coop this fall I changed the board once again. I just had to try the poop board with a bed of sand/PDZ. It is okay scooping the poop, but it takes me several more minutes to clean each morning. Doing it this way I have four 12’ lines of poop to scoop. I also will use more sand by doing it this way. I don’t have any pictures of the sand bed poop board.

I dare say many keepers have made numerous changes trying to find out what’s best for them. Surely to goodness I’m not the only one.

 

[Mimi13]

the "last coop I'm ever going to get", according to the builder.

That’s a good one!

 

[ValerieJ]

I have a double roost 12’ long at different heights. Poop board depth is 3’. Back roost is 12” from the wall. The other roost is centered in what remains of the poop board distance. There isn’t quite 12” between the boards or from the front roost to the edge of the poop board. This is due to the width of the 2x4 (narrow side up), so it’s almost all 12” spacing, almost but not quite.

I’m gonna say the biggest drawback and one that I wish I had room to permanently fix would be to separate the two roosts about 15”-18”. I believe that would help with the nighttime pecks as they are trying to get settled to roost. I did spread the roosts out once over the poop board at 4’, but that depth made it too hard for me to clean and took up a valuable one foot of landing space for the chickens so I changed it back.

My boy’s tail feathers do lay over the back roost as he always roosts on the front board facing forward. Sometimes one of the hens will scoot in underneath his tail feathers.

I have made many changes over the 15 months I’ve had birds in the bigger coop. I just can’t be satisfied. This picture is of the poop board at 3’. And my roosts are about 2” higher in this picture than they are now. These are juvenile birds (for pic comparison.)View attachment 1961304

This picture was made when I was trying out the 4’ poop board and lowered roosts. I did like the added distance between the two roosts.
View attachment 1961305

Now, as far as cleaning the boards I prefer scraping with a 10” metal, scraping knife. I do have an old, broken handled hoe that I used when the board was 4’. However, the results of scraping isn’t near as pretty as a bed of sand/PDZ. Those smears can be rough looking at times! After I scrape the board, I scatter a thin layer of PDZ across the board. It helps by not letting the wet poops stick as bad when it is dropped.

One difference in the two pics above is the edge of the board. I prefer having a “hangover” board so I can just scrape the poop right into the bucket that is held slightly under the front edge. It’s much easier and poop doesn’t get on the finished board edge.

When I cleaned my coop this fall I changed the board once again. I just had to try the poop board with a bed of sand/PDZ. It is okay scooping the poop, but it takes me several more minutes to clean each morning. Doing it this way I have four 12’ lines of poop to scoop. I also will use more sand by doing it this way. I don’t have any pictures of the sand bed poop board.

I dare say many keepers have made numerous changes trying to find out what’s best for them. Surely to goodness I’m not the only one.

Thanks so much for all that advice about what has and has not worked so far for you. DH plans to set this up initially on some sort of clears so they are easily adjustable as we figure out what works best for our chickens.

Again, I could not be happier with all the advice I have received here!!!

 

[ValerieJ]

That’s a good one!

Well, don't tell Him!!!

 

[azygous]

@Mimi13 backyard chicken keeping is an elite hobby. More accurately, an Elite Hobby.
So, you are not alone. Many of us are continually re-engineering things. My poop boards have gone through so many variations, I honestly have lost count.

By the way, my chickens in my rear coop share the same vinyl pattern with your chickens. Mine have theirs stapled to the walls to match the floor. (Before she died, my friend would brow-beat her son to give me all his vinyl floor remnants from his carpet and flooring store.)

 

[Mimi13]

DH plans to set this up initially on some sort of clears so they are easily adjustable as we figure out what works best for our chickens.

That, my friend, is an excellent idea. In the beginning we just don’t know what is best for us or the birds. I wish I had thought along those lines. It would have saved me a bunch of unsightly screw holes in my coop walls. No worries really.

 

[ValerieJ]

@Mimi13 backyard chicken keeping is an elite hobby. More accurately, an Elite Hobby.
So, you are not alone. Many of us are continually re-engineering things. My poop boards have gone through so many variations, I honestly have lost count.

By the way, my chickens in my rear coop share the same vinyl pattern with your chickens. Mine have theirs stapled to the walls to match the floor. (Before she died, my friend would brow-beat her son to give me all his vinyl floor remnants from his carpet and flooring store.)

Awesome friend! I agree it's an elite hobby.

 

[Mimi13]

@Mimi13 backyard chicken keeping is an elite hobby. More accurately, an Elite Hobby.
So, you are not alone. Many of us are continually re-engineering things. My poop boards have gone through so many variations, I honestly have lost count.

By the way, my chickens in my rear coop share the same vinyl pattern with your chickens. Mine have theirs stapled to the walls to match the floor. (Before she died, my friend would brow-beat her son to give me all his vinyl floor remnants from his carpet and flooring store.)

I guess it really is an elite hobby. I know that I am always piddling or tinkering up at the coop/run. Do you think one day I’ll ever get it to where I want it? Yeah, I doubt it. My DH says all the time, “I thought you were through up there!” I’ll bet if I were to build another one right now there would be changes to it right afterward. Ho hum!

And yes, my coop floor has the same linoleum as the poop board. It has served me well, so far.