Poop Boards

And Other Necessities for Your Chicken Coop

When you are building a chicken coop there are some things that you NEED to make your life easier. These are some “Must Have” Chicken Coop Hacks.

We all want to have a clean and healthy chicken coop, without spending all our time cleaning chicken poop. These hacks will help with that goal.

Number 1 – POOP BOARDS

Poop boards are the number one labour saving hack for your chicken coop. Chickens do 80% of their pooping while on the roosts at night. With these poop boards clean up is easy.

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It is easy to add Poop Boards to your coop. Just build a shelf below your roosts and cover it with Sweet PDZ or another absorbent coop product. The crystalized products are the best.

The Poop board shelf can be at any height. However, waist height is the most comfortable for easy daily scooping.

I use a kitty litter scoop to clean it every morning. It takes about 2 minutes. A metal scoop is best, it will last for ages. And, you can use it to scrape off any chicken poop that gets on the roosts bars or the ladder as well.

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The Space under the poop board can be used for storage, or just additional coop square footage.

Number 2 – Light and Windows

Chickens need light. Windows are the best way to provide the light, but you may also want to supplement the lighting in winter to increase egg production.

Chickens produce best with about 14 hours of light per day.

We don’t have electricity to our coop yet. When we needed to power heaters for the chicks we used about 400 ft of extension cords! Next year we hope to have electricity.

There are solar powered lights that can be used to light the coop.

Number 3 – Insulation and Ventilation

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We installed Rockwool insulation to the ceiling and walls, then vapour barrier and a water resistant wall board. As we live in Alberta, Canada, insulation was a must. It often gets below -30 degrees Celsius in the winter.

For ventilation, we have the main door, the pop door, the windows, and the open space under the eaves. Without proper ventilation, the coop will become humid which can lead to illness in the chickens.

Number 4 – The Run

Make sure that your chickens have access to the outdoors, but out protected from predators.

In our location, it is necessary to protect the birds from coyotes and other land predators, as well as flying predators. I found that out when I left them in the run for an hour before I added the netting on top – I lost two hens within an hour.

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We started by building panels for the run using 2×4’s and heavy duty poultry wire. Our panels are 8 ft x 8 ft. You can make them whatever size you like, but keep in mind that it is much easier to clean the run if you can stand up comfortably.

The typical thin chicken wire will not keep out predators.

Later, we moved the panels to the coop and screwed the panels onto the coop opening to create the run. A light netting is strung over the top to keep flying predators out.

We have added to the run since these photos were taken, adding an additional 64 square feet of outdoor space.

Number 5 – PVC Pipe Feeders

These feeders are super easy to make, and are ideal for providing grit and Oyster shells to your chickens.

In Summary

These are my TOP 5 hack recommendations for your chicken coop.

• Poop Boards
• Light and Windows
• Insulation and Ventilation
• Secure Outside Run
• PVC Pipe feeders

I hope you find these hacks helpful. Do you have any “Must Haves” to add to the list?