What to put under the roost

[Ninjasquirrel]

My birds poop a lot at night and the area under the roosting bars gets very condensed with feces. I clean out the coop weekly and am going to continue to do so but in the interest of cutting down on bacterial build up id like to put something under there that i can empty out daily. Any product suggestions or home made ideas?

 

[DobieLover]

My birds poop a lot at night and the area under the roosting bars gets very condensed with feces. I clean out the coop weekly and am going to continue to do so but in the interest of cutting down on bacterial build up id like to put something under there that i can empty out daily. Any product suggestions or home made ideas?

Have you considered using DLM?
If you don't want to go that route, you could install a poop board under the roost. Lot's of people use those. Could you post pictures of your coop and roosting area?

 

[Ridgerunner]

A lot depends on what your area looks like and how much access you have. Some people use droppings boards. That can be a flat piece of plywood or similar that you scrape the poop off as you need to. Some people build a tray and fill it with sand, PDZ, or something else that they can scoop the poop out. Some people build a sliding tray that they can pull out of the side of the coop for easy cleaning, with these I'd be concerned they may not always be easy to pull out and put back but I have not tried one. Some people hang a hammock of canvas or some material that they can easily take down and carry outside to empty it. You might be able to put bins underneath to catch the poop which makes emptying them easy.

I'll show you what I did. The top of my brooder is also a droppings board. But the brooder does not go all the way across so I use a couple of bins in that open space.

 

[Mimi13]

I have a droppings board that I scrape every morning. After I scrape it, I scatter a bit of PDZ across it to absorb any moisture from the “not so firm” droppings. That works well for me.

 

[aart]

I have a droppings board that I scrape every morning. After I scrape it, I scatter a bit of PDZ across it to absorb any moisture from the “not so firm” droppings. That works well for me.

I put the PDZ down first.

The Beginning:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6...raphic-gross-poop-pictures/1100#post_13179595

The Update:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-poop-pictures.621363/page-178#post-18966048

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Not sure what pdz is. Not gonna do the dlm. Just looking for ideas for a trough or something similar. Our coop is really easy to access with a very large clean out door so getting it in and out wouldnt be a problem. Its the collection method I'm intrigued about. Their sleeping area is just above the run as the coop is off the ground so a droppings board wont work. It has to be a trough of some kind. Just not sure if anyone had heard of one or tried one that they like.

Edit: just read a bunch of post from the thread @aart posted and found out what pdz is. The smell isnt an issue its the cleanliness that i care about

 

[aart]

The smell isnt an issue its the cleanliness that i care about

Ammonia is a health hazard...so odor can indicate 'unclean'.

 

[snow5164]

How long is the roost ?
I’ve seen people tack a tarp on the wall then drape it and attach it to the roost bar , they poop into it and you can remove it .

You can also attach a flat sheet of wood to the underside of the roost to catch the poop .

Pictures would really help ,
But there’s a few ideas

 

[muddy75]

we covered a large portion of our coop floor with cheap stick down tiles and then I have a dog crate tray that I place under the roosts. I spread pine shavings in and outside the tray. I remove the tray and sweep out other shavings as needed and the sticky tiles clean up pretty easily and for my size coop a $20 box allows for replacements as needed!

 

[imnukensc]

The "floor" under my roost is 1" X 2" welded wire. I specifically designed my elevated coop with this feature. Helps with poop management and ventilation. What doesn't fall through by itself gets brushed through with a deck brush every so often.