Homemade Waste Conveyor ?

[FrozenChicken]

I keep a flock of about 60-80 birds in a small barn and overwinter them. One of the issues I have is the build up of manure through the course of the winter. In the past I have had to clean the barn in the middle of January not such an easy task when it's -20 and snow everywhere. So been looking around the web for some ideas for a homemade system to remove manure that doesn't involve a wheel barrel. Most of the systems I see are for large operations so any cool ideas would be appreciated.

 

[BunkyB]

I am an old skooler here when it comes to making life a little easier with the chickens. I too as many do suffer the winter blues and the desire to clean the pen in the middle of winter is not much fun but really a must to keep the ammonia smell down and not cause any respiratory stress in the birds.

I personally use straw in the nesting boxes with shavings at the bottom. On the floors tho I use 1 bale of shavings and I go to local businesses here and get free shredded paper from several companies. I use this generously on the floors, a couple of inches thick. I find it easier to clean up if I was spot cleaning. I stress the birds out less and they break down the shavings and shredded paper perfectly for cleanups.
It is best to practice the cleaning routine tho. It is so important that the feces not build up as much. If you find shavings expensive to maintain the clean floor go all shredded paper and see how it works for you. I love the mix and so do my egg customers who collect fertilizer for their gardens. It breaks down perfectly and all is biodegradable. Give it a shot and consider shredded paper.. Steve

 

[WoodlandWoman]

You could also think about using deep litter and not clearing out the litter until spring. Managed correctly, there shouldn't be a problem with odor or ammonia. It just takes a little practice to get the hang of it.

 

[Chambertin]

If you have time this summer you can try to build a roost area with a conveyor that will deposit the waste into a barrel by use of a scraper for the conveyor belt. Wont do much for the run area, but will do wonders with ease of cleaning where most of it piles up.
If you have the money or lots of spare electronic stuff you could even automate it to trigger at a certian time every day then empty the bucket when its full without any need to crank it every day.

I think the shreaded paper is genius. free litter = smart.
I recycle my old books and other schoolpapers we dont use after the program finishes.
Stupid me never thought to ask others to donate.

 

[FrozenChicken]

Thanks for the replies I think I will likely go with the deep litter suggestion I got some access to some wood shavings so if I put a large quantity of these under the roosting area and if the birds keep this stirred up it should be good. I am not a fan of using straw because it tends to matt to much making the cleanup especially hard. A coworker suggested I look around for a an old square bale ladder and put steel under the chain runs and then put something on the chain to grab the litter but not sure maybe making holes in the wall to run a conveyor system will cause a draft. Anyway I have the fun job of cleaning the barn here in the next couple weeks