Roosting bar and poop board

[Txchick213]

Hello,
I am new to raising chickens and have a question about the roosting bar and poop board. I am currently building my coop it is 5x10 coop and run attached. I am wondering if I need to put a floor under the roosting bar. Couldn’t I just let the poop fall to the ground so that the chickens can mix it in with the ground covering and let that turn into compost?

 

[rosemarythyme]

You don't need to do a poop board if you don't want to have one and would rather do deep bedding instead, or some other poop management method.

 

[Txchick213]

You don't need to do a poop board if you don't want to have one and would rather do deep bedding instead, or some other poop management method.

So just to be clear in my open coop/run I can have their coop that is covered by 3 walls just have a roosting bar and underneath it will be the ground and I plan to cover the bare ground with wood chips. My hope is to have compost for my garden.

 

[rosemarythyme]

So just to be clear in my open coop/run I can have their coop that is covered by 3 walls just have a roosting bar and underneath it will be the ground and I plan to cover the bare ground with wood chips. My hope is to have compost for my garden.

Correct. Especially with a true open air coop (where the ground is the floor) you should be able to compost the poop in the litter as long as some moisture mixes in.

Depending on how much poop builds up under there you might want to rake it to redistribute it, and/or add more litter or more variety of litter to help break it down.

 

[Txchick213]

Correct. Especially with a true open air coop (where the ground is the floor) you should be able to compost the poop in the litter as long as some moisture mixes in.

Depending on how much poop builds up under there you might want to rake it to redistribute it, and/or add more litter or more variety of litter to help break it down.

Thank you so much! That was very helpful

 

[Ridgerunner]

Depending on how much poop builds up under there you might want to rake it to redistribute it, and/or add more litter or more variety of litter to help break it down.

That is the issue. If the poop builds up enough under the roost so it doesn't dry out it can become stinky and unhealthy. Dry poop is not a problem, wet poop is. Your 5x10 is not huge but it's not tiny either. It may be big enough and your poop load small enough that you have no problems. It does tend to build up under the roosts so you may need to rake it occasionally to spread it out. One trick is to toss some scratch down there so the chickens spread it for you while they are scratching around for the bits of scratch.

It is often a trial and error thing. If what you are doing doesn't work, try something else.

A droppings board is there to make collecting the poop easier. Mine is a flat piece of plywood, I just scrape the poop off into a bin when I need to. Some people use a tray with PDZ or sand or shavings or something and scoop the poop out, often with a kitty litter scoop. You can collect the poop under the roost if it piles up enough to be a problem with a shovel or maybe a rake and dust pan. A shovel is probably easier.

There are an infinite number of ways to solve the problem, if it is a problem. You are not going to get a visit from the poop management police if you don't follow certain rules. Find a method that works for you.

Good luck!