Keeping the chicken coop clean is essential for raising a healthy backyard flock. When the coop gets dirty, disease-causing bacteria start to proliferate and dangerous ammonia fumes can build up in the coop... both have harmful effects on chickens. However, there are ways to keep the coop clean efficiently and effectively. One of the best involves bringing in a droppings board! These boards are an extremely helpful asset to the chicken coop when it comes to managing chicken poop, keeping a clean coop, monitoring flock health, and raising healthy hens.
What is a Droppings Board?
Droppings boards are basically any surface below the roosts in the chicken coop that function to catch nightly droppings. They should be easy to clean and may even be able to be removed for ease of cleaning as well. By collecting the droppings each night, the boards make cleaning up chicken poop in the morning simple and easy.
Droppings boards help prevent chicken poop from building up in the chicken coop. When you can easily remove nightly droppings every day, the coop stays cleaner and the litter stays fresher for longer periods of time. Removing nightly droppings prevents ammonia fumes from building up and reduces the chance of harmful bacteria proliferating in the coop.
Health Benefits of a Chicken Coop Droppings Board
Chicken poop that starts to pile up will start emitting harmful ammonia fumes, add additional moisture to the chicken coop air, and harbor harmful bacteria that can cause disease and illness in your backyard flock.
Since droppings boards allow you to easily manage nightly droppings, they provide countless health benefits for your flock:
- Reduce bacterial infections
- Decrease pest attraction
- Promote healthier chickens
- Improve egg production
- Aid in monitoring flock health
- Keep a cleaner coop and chickens
- Help with moisture reduction
Droppings boards help prevent the build-up of harmful bacteria by allowing for easy, frequent cleaning. Additionally, when droppings are regularly removed from the coop, it reduces the likelihood of attracting pests like flies and rodents.
By removing droppings from the coop, you can also help your flock stay cleaner. They won’t be walking through piles of their own droppings, which makes for cleaner feet and feathers. This also prevents hens from tracking chicken poop into nests and results in cleaner eggs.
By maintaining a cleaner environment, chickens are less likely to suffer from diseases or respiratory issues related to waste accumulation. This in turn creates a healthier, less stressful environment, which contributes to higher egg production and better overall flock health.
Easier Health Monitoring
Speaking of flock health, droppings boards give you a way to monitor your flock’s general health condition every day. A chicken’s health can be determined by the quality of its poop. When you clean the droppings board every day, you can notice any non-normal poops that may indicate a health concern. Droppings boards make it easier to spot unhealthy poops like diarrhea, bloody poop, or poop containing worms or worm eggs.
Moisture Control
Lastly, removing chicken poop from the coop on a daily basis is helpful, especially during the winter months. Chicken poop adds moisture to the air in the chicken coop. During cold weather, moisture can freeze on combs, wattles, and toes, resulting in frostbite. By removing nightly droppings during the winter, you can help reduce the amount of moisture that evaporates into the coop air, which helps prevent frostbite.
Moisture reduction also helps the chicken coop litter stay fresher for longer. When the droppings are collected on the droppings boards instead of in the litter, the litter won’t become saturated with moisture from the poop as quickly.
Design Considerations for a Chicken Coop Droppings Board
Chicken coop droppings boards can be made out of a variety of materials, and they don’t even have to be boards either! Here are some droppings board materials to consider:
- Wood: Affordable and easy to work with, but it may require more maintenance.
- Plastic: Durable and easy to clean, but it can be more expensive.
- Repurposed Surfaces: Cost-effective option, such as using old trays or metal sheets.
You will also need to consider how to properly position and install a droppings board in the chicken coop. How you install a droppings board will depend on the style of the chicken coop roosts and the style of droppings board you are using.
For most roosting systems, the droppings board should be positioned approximately 8 inches below the roosting bars. This allows the board to effectively catch waste without interfering with the chickens’ space. It also allows you to easily clean the droppings board versus if the board is attached directly to the roosts.
The droppings board should extend at least 6-8 inches on either side of the roost in order to catch nightly droppings.
Chicken coop droppings boards should be easy to clean and/or remove from the coop. There are different styles of droppings boards that can be made out of various materials for varying roosting systems. Here are some common droppings board designs:
- Rimmed: This system involves a board that is surrounded by a rim that allows the board to be covered in litter. The droppings then collect in the litter and can be sifted out.
- Angled: This system creates a board that is installed at an angle or a slant below the roosts. The lowest part of the board is rimmed so that it collects droppings that slide down the slant. The droppings can then be scraped off.
- Simple Board: A simple board system works well for bar roosts. A wide board is installed below the bar roosts and the droppings can easily be scraped off every day.
- Ladder Roosts: For ladder roosts, a board that extends from the wall and below the lowest roost on the ladder will function to catch all droppings even from roosts higher up the ladder.
How to Build Your Own Chicken Coop Droppings Board
Building your own chicken coop droppings board is easy! You just need a few simple tools and a little bit of time to get an effective droppings management system in place under your flock’s roosts.
- Step 1: Measure the Coop – Measure the space under the roosting bars to ensure the board fits comfortably. The board will need to be installed about 8 inches below the roosts. For ladder roosts, the board should be 8 inches below the lowest roost and extend all the way back beneath the highest roost on the ladder. Additionally, make sure there is space for the board to extend at least 6-8 inches on either side of the roosts.
- Step 2: Select the Materials – Decide on the droppings board materials (plywood, plastic, repurposed surfaces) based on your budget and needs.
- Step 3: Cut and Assemble the Board – Cut the chosen material to fit the measurements and assemble it into a board, sling, or drawer that can be easily removed for cleaning. If using wood, the board does not need to be sanded smooth, however, it should not have any sharp points or slivers that can injure a bird if it walks on the board.
- Step 4: Install the Board – Secure the board in place 8 inches below the roosting bars. Ensure it is positioned for easy access and cleaning.
- Step 5: Add Cleaning Tools – Place a scraper or a small shovel near the droppings board along with a bucket to scrape the droppings into each day. For rimmed droppings boards that are filled with a thin layer of litter, a kitty litter scoop can be used for sifting droppings from the litter and removing them.
Once you remove the droppings from the droppings board, make sure you add them to your compost pile to make chicken manure compost for your garden!
Chicken Coop Poop Tray Ideas: Creative Alternatives to Traditional Droppings Boards
Droppings boards can take on all shapes and sizes. They can easily be developed out of whatever materials you have on hand or built to accommodate the way your chicken coop roosts are set up. Here are some creative ideas to get you started:
- Repurposed Plastic Trays: Use old plastic storage trays, baking sheets, or rabbit cage trays for a budget-friendly solution. Place the trays on a shelf under the roosts and fill them with a shallow layer of litter for easy chicken poop removal.
- Metal Sheet Trays: A metal sheet can be a durable and easy-to-clean option. Install and use them much like the repurposed plastic trays mentioned above.
- Shallow Wooden Boxes: Build shallow wooden boxes that can be easily removed and cleaned. Fill the boxes with a shallow layer of litter to make removing the chicken poop easier.
- Tiled Boards: Consider using ceramic tiles for a smooth, easily washable surface.
- Poop Sling/Hammock: Outdoor fabric, contractor’s plastic, or old feed bags can all be fashioned into angled ‘slings’ below roosts to catch nightly droppings. These options will have to be removed and washed or sprayed down periodically to keep them clean.
- Old Kitchen Countertops: As gross as it sounds, old kitchen countertops work as a smooth, easy to clean droppings collector in the chicken coop.
Easy Cleaning Strategies for Chicken Coop Droppings Boards
The cleaning strategy for chicken coop droppings boards will vary depending on the style of droppings board you install. Regardless of the droppings board style, you will want to have an easy cleaning strategy for removing the poop from the droppings board on a daily basis.
Daily Cleaning
Daily cleaning strategies can range from scraping the poop off the board to sifting droppings out of a shallow layer of litter on the droppings board. Normal chicken poop droppings that are relatively dry will scrape off droppings boards fairly easily.
However, chicken poop often comes in a range of textures and consistencies. Cecal droppings, bile, diarrhea, and other soft droppings are often harder to clean from a droppings board. Sprinkling a little sand or dirt over the wet droppings makes scraping them off much easier. Keep a little bucket of sand or dirt near the droppings boards for the purpose of cleaning up moist droppings.
Droppings boards that contain a shallow layer of litter will need to be sifted instead of scraped. You may need to replace the litter periodically as it absorbs moisture or gets sifted out along with the nightly droppings.
Deep Cleaning
For some droppings board systems, they may need to be removed once a week or on a monthly basis to be deep cleaned. A deep cleaning involves hosing off the board and cleaning it with disinfectant. You may even consider replacing the droppings board once a year.
Droppings slings or hammocks made from outdoor fabric, contractor’s plastic, or old feed bags will need to be deep cleaned more frequently. These materials are often harder to scrape clean and must be rinsed off regularly to fully remove all droppings.
Odor Control
Using a form of odor control on the droppings boards can further help keep the coop clean and smelling fresh. Odor controlling products, like Coop Conditioner, can be sprinkled on the droppings board to help control ammonia fumes. Adding bundles of fresh herbs or crushing dried herbs on the droppings board can also lend a more aromatic scent to the chicken coop.
Winter Cleaning
During the winter, you may have to deal with frozen chicken poop if the droppings freeze to the droppings board during extremely cold weather. For droppings boards that have a shallow layer of litter in them, sifting out the frozen poop shouldn’t be too big of a deal. However, for other systems of droppings boards, the poop may freeze directly onto the board and be impossible to scrape off. Simply wait for the weather to warm up again so that the droppings unthaw and can be scraped off the board.
Conclusion: The Value of DIY Chicken Coop Droppings Boards
Installing DIY chicken coop droppings boards are beneficial for the health of your backyard flock, which can improve egg production and prevent serious health issues. Droppings boards also make keeping the coop clean much simpler. They allow you to easily remove nightly droppings which prevents ammonia fumes from making the coop stinky. Less droppings in the coop also means the chicken coop litter will last longer! Consider building chicken coop droppings boards out of uncycled materials and see how they benefit your flock’s well-being and make coop maintenance easier!
