Poop board convert *warning-graphic/gross poop pictures*

[dirtylittlefly]

Forgive me if this has been asked before, I just finished reading the 600+ post thread about fermented feed- my eyes are tired!!

Trying to find a way for this to work in our already- too-heavy tractor. How deep is the PDZ? Thinking about using a boot tray or a few food service trays with a 1/2 inch of PDZ.

 

[amenfarm]

I have mine now at about 3/4 inch to drifts of an 1 1/2 inches deep. Much thinner and you'll spend a lot of time trying to spread around evenly. you want to find something with a deep lip running around the edges.

 

[davony's chicks]

Love it! Looks great and the idea that there isnt any smell is nice!

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

lol, I've got 30 pages left

edit: just finished, now I need book 2 !

Book 2 is the best one!

 

[jrsckn]

Book 2 is the best one!

Started book 3 yesterday but didn't read much because it was fathersday lol. I read the pdf versions online so I'm sure 12 hours from now this'll be me

trying to get through it

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

Trish,
Hope you dont mind a few more questions...how do your silkies manage to get up onto the roost over the poop board...and, are your silkies in your main coop with other large breeds?
We are converting our 8' x 16' shed and I've been trying to figure out whether i can put our silkie chicks together into one large coop with the other chicks and if so...whether should I build a lower poop board for the silkies underneath a waist high poop board. We currently have 2 polish, 7 silkie and 10 LF chicks in three different temporary places while we work on our coop.
If necessary, i can divide whole coop into two sections but would prefer one large space. My daughter is disabled and has difficulty bending down, so poop baords at waist height would be ideal for her. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions?
Tina

Sent you a pm. So happy this design works well for your daughter- that is AWESOME!

I have 1 Silkie that has some serious Jedi moves- she can be found roosting right up on the big girl perch with the rest of them

I have also seen her drop kick my Wyandotte so I'm guessing she is not your average Silkie. My other Silkies roost on a lower perch and some nights sleep on the floor. They seem fine with it and never get pooped on so I'm good with it.

Totally put them all together- they will be 1 big happy family!!! All of my girls get along great and I have at least 10 different breeds in there- both Bantam and Large Fowl. In fact, I think my Sebright may be top bird in the coop! She is a peanut but is well respected.




Good Luck!

Trish

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

Got most of the materials today to start our coop! I am so excited and can't wait for it to be done, but it will take quite a while as we can only work on it about one day a week. Thankfully we will not need it until the chicks we are getting around the 29th of this month will be old enough to move out of the house.

I have "stolen" lots of designs from this thread! We are making it 8x12, it will be a single pitch roof. I am going to use Trish's basic inside design with the roosts and poop boards with Sweet PDZ running down both sides of the coop, but I am going to put nest boxes under one of the poop boards and a brooding pen under the other.

We are using some re-cycled items, like the door, windows, etc and we are going to try and make it moveable because we plan to move in 1-2 years. So far we have spent about $460.00 on lumber for the floor, stud walls and rafters, but still need to pick up the wall and roofing OSB/plywood, roofing felt, tin, and paint. We have some recycled lumber that we will most likely use to help make the poop boards, roosts, etc. We have not decided if we are going to insulate or not, we live in Idaho and get quite a bit of snow and cold temps in winter, but nothing severe (20-30 degree days, teen nights, rarely below zero temps though it can happen). Instead of settling on OSB-only walls we may put siding on the outside, which would give us the opportunity to insulate if we go that route.

I will post pics once we get something to take pics of LOL. Well, here is one of our 5 year old daughter helping Daddy unload the boards for "her chicken coop"

Great pic! I think children raising chickens and helping to care for them is great- teaches them so much! Good luck with your coop- I'm sure it will be awesome

I was wondering how many inches of PDZ do you have in your poop board? I am making my own small coop which will be 3' by 4' and wanted to use sweet PDZ as the bedding on the floor, since by coop will be too small for a poop board. I wanted to know how many inches should I make the PDZ?

My PDZ varies also- depending on how long it has been without adding. I think the bare minimun needed is 1/2 inch. I like mine when it is about 1 1/2- 2 inches- easy scooping.

You could use shavings with PDZ sprinkled on top, which works well. But with the small footprint, you could easily use straight PDZ. Why not try each option and see which you like best? Tina

I realized I won't have room for a poop board. Our coop is going to be small (designed for no more than 4 full size chickens) and not only would the poop board be about half of the floor area, we also don't have the vertical room for ground/ poop board/ roost. I'm designing the coop for deep litter but was wondering about putting PDZ over the entire coop floor. The coop will be raised and 3.5' x 4'. That's basically the area of a poop board running 8'. So any drawbacks or reasons not to use the PDZ as the flooring of the coop? These being my first chicks (and first coop) I really can't imagine what exactly is going to go on in the coop.

 

[Fraunie]

It's COOP DAY!!

My shed/coop arrived today, and is being assembled as I type. I hired a company to build it per my design, and then the family and I will put the finishing touches on it.

Couple of quick questions....

1. what are the best ways to keep the coop 'clean looking'? From reading this thread I have planned to paint it off white inside....with some type of exterior paint I am guessing. I want my kids each to paint a small mural on one section. Their choice.

2. For the floor....linoleum....tiles or sheet?? I was fine with tile, but DH thinks that poop will get caught in the seams and never come out. I did take this opportunity to remind him it was a coop and will ALWAYS have poop in it.

3. Poop boards....should I paint them or linoeum the bottoms??

One observation I did have as soon as they got the floor finished......I should have gone bigger. DANG IT!!

It's 8x8 and right now I only have 2 bantams, 1 turkey and one hen....but 8 growing chicks in my bathroom.

Thanks!!

 

[StarryEyzz]

It's COOP DAY!!

My shed/coop arrived today, and is being assembled as I type. I hired a company to build it per my design, and then the family and I will put the finishing touches on it.

Couple of quick questions....

1. what are the best ways to keep the coop 'clean looking'? From reading this thread I have planned to paint it off white inside....with some type of exterior paint I am guessing. I want my kids each to paint a small mural on one section. Their choice.

2. For the floor....linoleum....tiles or sheet?? I was fine with tile, but DH thinks that poop will get caught in the seams and never come out. I did take this opportunity to remind him it was a coop and will ALWAYS have poop in it.

3. Poop boards....should I paint them or linoeum the bottoms??

One observation I did have as soon as they got the floor finished......I should have gone bigger. DANG IT!!

It's 8x8 and right now I only have 2 bantams, 1 turkey and one hen....but 8 growing chicks in my bathroom.

Thanks!!

Well I am no expert. My coop has been up a mere week. But I really suggest linoleum flooring. I think its much easier to clean. And you can always find some for free on craigslist or find a remnant at a flooring store.

I was going to do linoleum poop boards. But didn't enough at the time and just painted them white, and was gonna upgrade down the road. So far, I am just scooping the boards and don't really think I need to do it now. I have a nice layer of the PDZ and its just a matter of scooping, nothing really is getting caked on the bottom.

I am sure you will get lots of great advice!

 

[TonySorrento]

OK Trish .... I was hoping these birds would hop up and spread out ... but 12 of them roost in the front right corner of the roost and poop board ...

3/4s of the right side roost and the entire left side roost is empty ... lol ... will they spread out?

Also, my Marans sleep in the corner of the floor with the little ones ... will they EVER roost?