should the roost be near a nest box?

[chickachickawhat]

should the chickens roost be near the nesting boxes or does it not matter? also how do you clean the poop off of the betting and how often. i am goin to use pine shaving so how would you clean it and how often?

 

[twigg]

It should be higher than the nest box. Beyond that it doesn't seem to matter much.

If you have space, keep them apart. Smaller coops don't, and it doesn't seem to be a problem.

 

[MandyH]

If the roost is over the nest box they will most likely crap in it.

 

[chickachickawhat]

thanks for the information. what should i do about the cleaning. how often do you clean the poop off pine shavings and how do you do it?

 

[GreggsEggs]

Clean it fairly often(weekly or so) by replacing them!

 

[twigg]

Quote:
If you can arrange it so the chickens can't access the area under the roosts, then it's easy. Throw an old feed sack down and remove it when it needs it.

 

[LynneP]

You can also put a shelf or droppings board under the roosts. If you have a pic others might comment on what would work...then you can scrape off the droppings regularly. An old windshield scraper or a paint scraper would work.

 

[bills]

Quote:
I just use a small garden trowel, and pick up the bigger poops, placing them in a bucket. The use of a dropping board keeps the majority contained to it, and is easy to clean. Since the birds are out almost the entire day, the coops pine shavings are still pretty clean after 5 weeks. I add some fresh shavings once a week, and sprinkle DE around once every couple of weeks. So far very little smell. I think the trick is to keep the coop dry as possible. I keep my waterer on top of a dishwash basin, that has wooden slats across it. This prevents spills into the litter.

 

[Smitty's Farm]

We have a roost in front of the nest boxes just to help them get to the boxes, but we have a higher roost above the nest boxes for bedtime. We use the top of the nest boxes as a dropping board. I know a lot of people don't like that, but the combo works well for us. We covered the top of the nest boxes w/laminate floor stuff and put pine shavings on top of that. We scoop the poop everyday off of it. I just use a big dust pan to scoop. Hope this helps.

 

[Cocky Son Of A Rooster]

I think I'll try the feed sack plan. Nice and simple. Except, our bird poop more than they eat.