Cheap and easy drop pan?

[Bettacreek]

With all of the birds I plan to keep, I want to keep them in wire bottomed cages (while they're caged anyways) and use something on the bottom to help collect poop. I don't want concentrated piles of crap under the cages, but want to concentrate them where I see fit. I was thinking about using heavy-duty plastic and make a funnel type at one side and have it go into a bucket, but I'm not sure how well poop will slide. A friend had a setup like this for rabbits, but they used a tarp, and the rabbit poo didn't slide easily. Possibly because of the tarp material, but I want a sure bet that won't be a pain in the arse. I suppose I could spray it with the hose, but I'd rather it work on it's own to minimize poop water. Any ideas or input?

 

[lazyday]

I don't know about anyone's chickens but my own and they have a wide range of different types of poo from firm to watery,sticky to stinky in the same day so my thoughts would be this would not work with my girls unless you could put down shaving on a removable tray. I am sure someone else will have an idea.

 

[so lucky]

Some of their poops are big, golfball sized, especially first thing in the morning. It would take some pretty large mesh wire to allow that to pass through without building up on the wire. I think if you use wire that is spaced wide enough for the poop to fall through, it would be hard on the chickens' feet. You may be setting them up for foot/toe injuries leading to infections, etc. However, if they are only going to be sleeping in there, and have roosts, then wire size is not as critical as if they spent hours per day on the wire floor. And, I don't think you can count on the poop to slide down a plastic ramp. Like lazyday said, some will, some won't.

 

[the funny farm6]

Before I got the cages with drop pans for my rabbits, I used a piece of the shower stall paneling. I got mine at menards back with the reg paneling. I would cut it to size (giving an extra couple inches for the slant front to back) then wire it to the front botttom of the cage and I would attach a couple of pieces of wire to the back that hung down a few inches and then attach the panel to them. Worked well for the rabbits. I did spray them down every 2-4 weeks. Not sure how it would work for chickes though.

 

[Avalon1984]

I have a chicken house that I bought with a wire floor for the droppings to fall through. Not worth it, it makes a huge mess and we are in our 3rd year now and need to replace the wire because it broke from us trying to scrape the poop off it that didn't fall through. Very messy and not very sanitary. I hope somebody has a good idea for you to implement that won't cause this.

 

[Bettacreek]

Hmmm. I'm really not wanting to work with shavings. I feel like newsprint is too dirty (it just sits there on top, to be stepped on), bare ground is dirty (again, they just wallow in their crap) and I can't really compost anything here, since we'll be moving. Smell isn't much of an issue, since something tends to stink (they say it's marsh grass around here?!) like dead animal, so this would probably be potpourri in comparison, but the whole moving and leaving a pile of crap is an issue. I'm still not sure when we'll be moving, but ya know? Maybe if I put it between some of those stupid bushes, it won't be a big deal. Still, cost for shavings is another issue... I want to keep my costs as low as possible, without causing problems.

 

[Avalon1984]

Hmmm. I'm really not wanting to work with shavings. I feel like newsprint is too dirty (it just sits there on top, to be stepped on), bare ground is dirty (again, they just wallow in their crap) and I can't really compost anything here, since we'll be moving. Smell isn't much of an issue, since something tends to stink (they say it's marsh grass around here?!) like dead animal, so this would probably be potpourri in comparison, but the whole moving and leaving a pile of crap is an issue. I'm still not sure when we'll be moving, but ya know? Maybe if I put it between some of those stupid bushes, it won't be a big deal. Still, cost for shavings is another issue... I want to keep my costs as low as possible, without causing problems.

How about just using plain old sawdust? I hate shavings too and they don't compost worth a darn, plus they are expensive. I put a layer of sawdust into my chicken houses (that don't have the wire) and it works well. As far as composting goes, yes, their poop stinks bad. If you have other animals, you can try and mix their poop in their that pile. We mix the chicken poop in witht eh horse poop and our customer love that "blend", plus it cuts down on the smell. I clean my chicken houses about every 2-3 weeks and the sawdust helps to keep things from getting to sticky.

 

[DeniseCharleson]

I'm sure that not everyone here subscribes to the standards set by CertifiedHumane.org, but they do have many good ideas in their certification program.
For broiler chickens, copied from http://www.certifiedhumane.org/uploads/pdf/Standards/English/Std09.Chickens.2J.pdf

B. Floor and litter
E 7: Design of floors
Chicken house flooring must allow for effective cleansing and disinfection, preventing a significant build-up of parasites and other pathogens. Concrete floors are preferable to earthen floors because they can be more effectively cleaned and disinfected.
E 8: Concrete floors
a. When internal house floors are concrete they must be of a solid, smooth, hard construction.
b. There must be no significant cracks in the floor (any cracks must be adequately repaired).
E 9: Litter
The floor of all houses must be completely covered in litter. Chickens must have access to the litter area at all times. The litter must:
1. Be of a suitable material and particle size;
2. Be of good quality (clean, dry, dust-free, and absorbent);
3. Be managed to maintain it in a dry, friable condition;
4. Be of a sufficient depth for dilution of feces;
5. Allow birds to dust bathe; and
6. Be skimmed and topped up as necessary with fresh litter.
E 10: Prohibited Housing
Housing in cages, or on wire or slatted floors, is not permitted.
E 11: Litter storage
Fresh litter must be stored indoors in a clean vermin proof area.
E 12: Contaminated litter
a. Litter that is wet, infested with mites, or otherwise contaminated must not be introduced into chicken housing.
b. Wet or caked litter must be replaced promptly.
E 13: Understanding the importance of litter
a. Growers must be aware of the welfare problems associated with poor litter management.
b. Growers must understand the factors that affect litter condition e.g. moisture, nitrogen content, ventilation and stocking density, and caking or slipperiness.

 

[Icu4dzs]

Hmmm. I'm really not wanting to work with shavings. I feel like newsprint is too dirty (it just sits there on top, to be stepped on), bare ground is dirty (again, they just wallow in their crap) and I can't really compost anything here, since we'll be moving. Smell isn't much of an issue, since something tends to stink (they say it's marsh grass around here?!) like dead animal, so this would probably be potpourri in comparison, but the whole moving and leaving a pile of crap is an issue. I'm still not sure when we'll be moving, but ya know? Maybe if I put it between some of those stupid bushes, it won't be a big deal. Still, cost for shavings is another issue... I want to keep my costs as low as possible, without causing problems.

How about just using plain old sawdust? I hate shavings too and they don't compost worth a darn, plus they are expensive. I put a layer of sawdust into my chicken houses (that don't have the wire) and it works well. As far as composting goes, yes, their poop stinks bad. If you have other animals, you can try and mix their poop in their that pile. We mix the chicken poop in witht eh horse poop and our customer love that "blend", plus it cuts down on the smell. I clean my chicken houses about every 2-3 weeks and the sawdust helps to keep things from getting to sticky.

Please forgive my impertinence but I recently read (after I did it myself) that sawdust was NOT good for chickens because it is TOO FINE and can cause respiratory problems. I did think there was merit to this after doing it because every time I walked into the coop, the dust was flying and I had to protect my breathing from all that dust and "whatever else the chickens leave behind". The pine wood shavings I have been using seem to work ok and are fairly easy to scrape up. I haven't had to collect back all my sawdust but when I do, it will go straight to the garden because it should break down real well.
Trim sends
//BT//

 

[Avalon1984]

Hmmm. I'm really not wanting to work with shavings. I feel like newsprint is too dirty (it just sits there on top, to be stepped on), bare ground is dirty (again, they just wallow in their crap) and I can't really compost anything here, since we'll be moving. Smell isn't much of an issue, since something tends to stink (they say it's marsh grass around here?!) like dead animal, so this would probably be potpourri in comparison, but the whole moving and leaving a pile of crap is an issue. I'm still not sure when we'll be moving, but ya know? Maybe if I put it between some of those stupid bushes, it won't be a big deal. Still, cost for shavings is another issue... I want to keep my costs as low as possible, without causing problems.

How about just using plain old sawdust? I hate shavings too and they don't compost worth a darn, plus they are expensive. I put a layer of sawdust into my chicken houses (that don't have the wire) and it works well. As far as composting goes, yes, their poop stinks bad. If you have other animals, you can try and mix their poop in their that pile. We mix the chicken poop in witht eh horse poop and our customer love that "blend", plus it cuts down on the smell. I clean my chicken houses about every 2-3 weeks and the sawdust helps to keep things from getting to sticky.

Please forgive my impertinence but I recently read (after I did it myself) that sawdust was NOT good for chickens because it is TOO FINE and can cause respiratory problems. I did think there was merit to this after doing it because every time I walked into the coop, the dust was flying and I had to protect my breathing from all that dust and "whatever else the chickens leave behind". The pine wood shavings I have been using seem to work ok and are fairly easy to scrape up. I haven't had to collect back all my sawdust but when I do, it will go straight to the garden because it should break down real well.
Trim sends
//BT//

Hey Trim,

nothing to forgive there. My other chicken house has a concrete floor actually which tends to sweat, so that may be why I am not having too many dust issues with the chickens. OP, please disregard my previous post on using sawdust.