Useful power tool for winter clean outs

[Birdsong 82]

Thanks. I see you are also from MN, so how do you clean a wood board with frozen poo on it? I have a wooden ladder for the pop door which gets poo on it and I have to use a hammer and chisel to break off the poo.

A poop board doesn't have to be wood necessarily. I didn't care for a wooden one they got harder and harder to scrape and occasionally would have the same issue you would with it being frozen to it. But we don't have nearly as harsh of winters as you. I realized a galvanized metal poop board is what works best for me. It's scrapes almost effortlessly. So much so that sometimes I even scrape it out every morning because it so easy. I use metal roadway signs. But my chickens aren't smart enough to cover up their poop with wood chips. And the pile they were able to make in the one week I didn't have a poop board. My gosh

 

[Birdsong 82]

But if what you're doing is working for you then roll with it. I just find the poop board helping save the floor of my coop from rotting too quickly. And helping keep the humidity and smell down. But we're not usually frozen solid here for more than a couple days at a time But everybody set up is differently and what works for them is different to

 

[pennyJo1960]

True many ideas are passed by well meaning people take what you can leave the rest that is how I did get the diagram for making a great waistless feeder they one I got from is in Lithuania

 

[BarbaKay]

Do you add Diatomaceous Earth to your pine chips/flakes? It will keep it dry in there and keep parasites from your chix as well as keep bugs away.

 

[BarbaKay]

I don't think so, for where I live. Frozen poo on a wooden board is too hard to get off. Most people around here don't clean out their coops until spring. Frozen poo does not smell, so most people just wait until spring for cleaning. Most of the people I know that have chickens say they just continue to throw fresh bedding material on the frozen poo all winter. I use wood chips, but other might use pine shavings, straw, etc....

I know lots of people here on BYC community recommend a poop board under the roost, but nobody around where I live go with that option. But we also don't clean out the coop from Nov-Apr. I imagine a poop board would have to be cleaned out regularly, or the build up would be too much.

I’d probably have 2 and just switch them out, cleaning the dirty one after it’s out until it’s time to switch it out again.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Do you add Diatomaceous Earth to your pine chips/flakes? It will keep it dry in there and keep parasites from your chix as well as keep bugs away.

I do not use DE but use wood ash does the same thing birds get in the coop and outside we have a antique trash burner we heat the house with

 

[rehdancer]

U folks are the best, really.

 

[Finnie]

Do you add Diatomaceous Earth to your pine chips/flakes? It will keep it dry in there and keep parasites from your chix as well as keep bugs away.

I would just like to point out that Diatomaceous Earth will also kill the good bugs that you need for composting, so if your bedding is intended for your garden, you should probably not use DE.

 

[Jeddice]

I have had so many comments about a poop board that it has me thinking about what might work for me. One idea is to make a poop tray under the roost and line it with empty feed bags. The poo would drop on the feed bag, freeze, then I suppose I could remove the bag and poo all at the same time. That might be an option to consider. But my first choice would be to let it fall down to the deep litter bedding and either mix it in with the wood chips, cover it with fresh bedding, or removing the frozen poo and dumping it into the chicken run/composting in place with the leaves I piled in the run.

My chickens only sleep in their coops so we have poop trays which get cleaned everyday or so. It’s been alittle cold here in central MA so when I clean the trays the poop is alittle frozen, I figure it just makes it easier to pick up. They play and eat in their pens, which we are doing the deep litter in those. Only been at this for 2 years. It started with 1 chicken who moved into the back of my house. We are up to 26 at moment, 3 silkies are males and they will have to be rehomed unfortunately. Good luck

 

[gtaus]

Do you add Diatomaceous Earth to your pine chips/flakes? It will keep it dry in there and keep parasites from your chix as well as keep bugs away.

I have not added Diatomaceous Earth (DE) to my wood chips. There seems to be a lot of controversy as to the use of DE. Some people say that DE helps keep bugs away, and others say that it does not work very well. A number of people have brought up the issue of respiratory problems of using DE inside a closed coop. I honestly don't know what to think about DE, but my chickens are healthy, so I don't feel the need to change anything at this time.