Slide out poop tray

[karakara2]

This may be a silly question but we're pretty new to owning chickens. We haven't moved our flock to the new coop yet but Im trying to prepare it. We have a slide out poop tray in our coop... wondering what is the best way to maintain it? What should we put in it? shavings? Sand? We had shavings in our brooder that we picked through every night and added a fresh top coat to keep it "clean". We did a deep clean about once a week with that. With the pop tray, could we do the deep litter method? And what does everyone do with the dirty shavings? Thanks in advance!

 

[Chookchicken]

We put wood shaving on the poop tray. Every week or two (depending on how dirty it is) we empty out the poop tray into the compost, put some wood shavings back on the poop tray and put it back into the coop.

 

[AnnPann]

My current coop (Omlet) has a slide out poop tray and I use PDZ and scoop it daily with a cat litter scoop. Works great and there’s no smell. I top off the PDZ monthly or so, so one $12 bag lasts a long time. PDZ is compostable, so all the scooped out mess goes into a bucket, and when bucket is full, I dump it into my compost pile.

 

[aart]

This may be a silly question but we're pretty new to owning chickens. We haven't moved our flock to the new coop yet but Im trying to prepare it. We have a slide out poop tray in our coop... wondering what is the best way to maintain it? What should we put in it? shavings? Sand? We had shavings in our brooder that we picked through every night and added a fresh top coat to keep it "clean". We did a deep clean about once a week with that. With the pop tray, could we do the deep litter method? And what does everyone do with the dirty shavings? Thanks in advance!

Don't count on the 'slide out' part working.

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
- Large flake pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.
That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 9 years.

 

[chfriedmam]

This may be a silly question but we're pretty new to owning chickens. We haven't moved our flock to the new coop yet but Im trying to prepare it. We have a slide out poop tray in our coop... wondering what is the best way to maintain it? What should we put in it? shavings? Sand? We had shavings in our brooder that we picked through every night and added a fresh top coat to keep it "clean". We did a deep clean about once a week with that. With the pop tray, could we do the deep litter method? And what does everyone do with the dirty shavings? Thanks in advance!

What is it made of? For my coop i have pop trays that slide out that are metal baking sheets. I put used espresso grinds (chicks don't access the poop trays) or just leave them bare and scrape them with a metal spackle knife. Poop dries good with nothing there

 

[Nyhillbillies]

We put wood shaving on the poop tray. Every week or two (depending on how dirty it is) we empty out the poop tray into the compost, put some wood shavings back on the poop tray and put it back into the coop.

Thinking of doing this with a tarp instead of a tray. Wood shavings, as well.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

What is it made of? For my coop i have pop trays that slide out that are metal baking sheets. I put used espresso grinds (chicks don't access the poop trays) or just leave them bare and scrape them with a metal spackle knife. Poop dries good with nothing there

Can you post a pic of your tray setup in relation to perches? I can’t picture it.

 

[chfriedmam]

Can you post a pic of your tray setup in relation to perches? I can’t picture it.

sorry just saw this. roost bars are on left. the whole roost "shelf" lifts out, then under it is a layer of chicken wire to keep everyone out of the poop trays, then the poop trays with some old coffee grounds on them. It's crowded now, bc I have a chick down in a crate below.

 

[linguini]

Don't count on the 'slide out' part working.

I laughed when I read that - we have two prefab coops, both with slide out trays. And I've learned not to use it - so much more hassle to have to clean the tray! They are also too shallow or making a mess when you slide out.

Since we only have a few chickens (started with 8 and now 7/), it's much easier just to scoop out the poops (cat litter scooper) daily or, if on vacation, weekly or even up to 2 weeks. And replenish the pine shavings.