Today I crossed another couple of little chicken projects off my list.
Firstly, I built a poop tray — a nested tray to collect the poop chickens release overnight while roosting, to make it easier to keep the coop clean.
Here is the outer tray, which features an opening at the back (towards us) and a welded wire screen to keep the chickens out:
And the inner tray, with a small opening at one end to enable scooping out the waste:
They fit together like this within the coop, accessed via the poop door:
Both could be removed if I want to sweep out the entire coop. But typically just the inner tray will be pulled out to clean out, without exposing the whole doorway:
Here’s what it looks like inside:
Next up, I built a grazing frame — a structure with a hardware cloth screen on top. We can plant grass or other fodder inside the frame, which will grow up through the wire, so the chickens can eat the tops without destroying the entire plant. (Given an opportunity, chickens will turn any amount of foliage to barren dirt in time, by scratching and pecking plants into oblivion.)
The chickies are intrigued:
You have some great ideals. What did you use for the bottom of the poop tray?
It’s a whiteboard (from Home Depot). Using painted plywood would work well too.
I’m about to build my first coop. I’m up in Ontario where winters can be brutal. I thought about having the roost of the coop cantilevered out so that in the summer, the poop would fall right through the wire and onto the ground outside. (That area would not be part of the run). And then in the winter I’d have a panel that would pop in to close off the wire to keep warmth in. And on top of that could be a catching tray of sorts. What are your thoughts on the poop wire below the roost being open to the ground below to make an exterior collection ?
That’s an interesting idea. It would certainly be more convenient for cleaning. But I’d worry about the chickens getting too cold, even in summer, exposed to the elements like that. And they may feel less secure; chickens like a cozy coop to feel safe from predators.