The BANTAM ONLY poop/ dropping board: how big?

[Wink]

I'm so new to this, so I've never (gasp) even seen an actual bantam hen (only pics, that doesn't count). I really cannot fathoM the size.
I have decided to gear my coop (4x4) toward a bantam only dwelling. I'm not sure how high (yet) to put my PVC feeders or PVC waterers.

But let me back up: I'm using the 2x4 for the roost, but am curious if the actual poop board can be just 12" to do the job, or even less than that? General consensus for the bigger ladies indicates 14" on up.... Just trying to conserve room in the coop, but I also want the poop board to do it's job!

Someone else has to have bantams only, right!?

 

[UGAchick]

I have bantams (and know that you will LOVE them), but I don't know what a poop board is, so I can't help! Sorry!

 

[Wink]

Wow, maybe I will be the only all bantam owner with a poop board!;-)

 

[Tdub4chiks]

Quote:
A poop board is something under their roost that collects their poo while they sleep. It makes it easier to clean and keeps the coop fresh. you just scrape it off daily or every couple of days & compost it. Do a search and you can find all kinds of different poop boards.

 

[elmo]

You might find that the 2" by 4" catches a lot of the poop itself if you have the wide side up. I have only bantams, and I use a 2" by 1" board (edges planed down and sanded) for my roosts, as well as some natural tree branches of a similar width.

I use boot trays under the roosts to collect droppings. The trays are about 14 inches wide.

 

[Wink]

Quote:
Wow! This was some of the advice I needed! Guess I'll change it to a smaller size roost bar, and a 14" poop board. I've heard of other people talk about boot trays.... Not sure what or where to get them, I'll google it! Thanks!!!

 

[elmo]

Quote:
I have pictures of the boot trays I use on my BYC pages. I got the big one from Gardeners Supply:

http://www.gardeners.com/large-boot-tray/Mudroom,31-286,default,cp.html

and the two smaller ones from The Container Store:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10007173&N=&Ntt=boot+tray

You can also find boot trays other places, too...pretty much anywhere they sell "mudroom" type stuff.


I simply take the trays over to my composter every morning, dump/scrape out the contents, then hose the trays down and replace them. Works great. Only cecal poop sticks to the plastic (and the hosing takes care of that). The trays are light enough to lift easily. Cleanup in the morning takes all of five minutes, and the coop stays fresh.

p.s. Guess how I know about the poop catching on a 4" wide board? Um, yup. Been there, tried that.

 

[Wink]

Thank you soooo much. The boot tray from the Container store... Is it permanently "ridged" on the inside of the tray, or is there a removable liner? I though it'd be hard to remove the poo from the ridges.....

 

[karmlacres]

I was going to come out to BYC to learn more about poop boards. This thread alone was worth my time

I had the same question about the ridges as the last poster. Doesn't that make it harder to clean ... OR for those using the boot trays, are you putting and or wood shavings in there to help with cleanup? I've seen some put a litter box (sand below the roost so the poo could just get scooped out with the rest of the coop floor using the deep litter method).

 

[elmo]

The ridges on the trays from the Container Store are quite low. 90 percent of chicken poo is pretty dry and rolls right off when I tilt the tray into the composter. For the rest of it (the cecal poops) I keep an old trowel next to the composter for scraping. Then, I stack the trays vertically next to the coop and hose 'em right down. Clean as new.

Some people do put some kind of litter in the tray (sand, shavings, etc.). Personally, I don't want to be bothered with picking droppings out of anything in the trays, and if I was going to dump litter out of the trays every morning I'd have to refill them, too...another step I don't want to be bothered with. But everyone will have their own personal preferences about this.

One other thing. My chickens sometimes fly up and perch on the edge of the boot trays as they're making their way up to their roosts at night. My chickens are very small and very light, but just in case several might perch on the edge of a tray at the same time and cause the tray to tip off, I put some wood blocks on the wall just above the back edge of the tray to prevent tipping. You can see one of these blocks in this picture: