Width of poop board - which way are your chickens roosting ??

[GermanChick]

Outside walls of the coop are up and I am starting to think "Interior Design" ......
I have read lots of threads regarding poop boards and I think they are a definitely yes !!!!!!
So now I have a question regarding the width. I was reading that roosts should be 18 inches from the wall. If I would place a poop board underneath would you make it 36 inches ?? Or do the chickens mainly roost facing the coop and not the wall, and I can make the poop board 18 inches between roost and wall and just 10 or 12 inches in front ?? I just think 36 inches is pretty wide and a little bit smaller would make it a lot easier to clean.
I know, I know another poop board question but please help ....... all those decision drive me crazy

 

[KenCoesta]

I know what you mean!
Mine's not even started and I'm going nuts!
Now there's POO BOARDS!?! ;

I read somebody saying they just had 2x4s propped up there.
If there's poop on the floor and not on the board, you know you missed! ^_~
Adjust accordingly.

Interesting question, tho - which way do chickens roost?
I'd say backs to the nearest wall.

 

[bigoakhunter]

Not sure if I am up to code... But I make my roost's out about 12 inches from wall and my poop board is only16 inches from wall and it seems to work good. Just my 2 cents...have 3 coops and they seem to br happy... all seem to roost with hind ends towards wall.

 

[KenCoesta]

Only "6" inches from the wall, right?

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

First off they face which ever way they want to belive me I thought th esame but found out otherwise the funny thing is half face one way and the other half face the other way. I have yet to figure out why they do this,now for your poop board I would make it at least 24" with the roost bar in the center of it this way no matter which way they sit they will hit it as for the board being away from the wall I would say the roost should be at least 18" off the floor but not away from the wall I would do it at 12" max that way the poop board will be right up against it.

I hope this helps you out so Good luck with it.

MY roost is a flat roost that is about 5' L nad 4'W and 24" H and two sides face the wall and they don't even sit close to either one.
Just My 2 cents about my roost and the way my chickens sit on it.

 

[newchicksnducks]

Yes, you'll love having poo or droppings board under the roost. It definitely helps keep the coop floor cleaner! I have two roosts. The droppings board is about 30 inches off the floor. I started typing this w/estimates, ran out to the coop w/tape measurer and realized my estimates were pretty close...within 2 inches or so! Anyways, this is what we have done and have found it works great.

Droppings board was 30" off floor...add shavings and it is closer to 27-28" high. Lowest roost is 9" off droppings board, 26 inches from wall on center (center of roost which is 2x4, 4" side flat). Higher roost is 20" off droppings board, 12" from wall (which makes it 14" from lowest roost). Here's a photo when we first installed it. We raised the lowest roost from 4" off the board to the current 9"...kept the girls closer in height and we haven't had any squabbles about who sits where. In fact, they'll frequently change from day to day.

Which way do they sit? Out of 13 birds, on any given night I would say 8 or nine face into the coop, the others face towards the wall. Why???? who knows I do think they enjoy looking out the window as they settle in for the night.

 

[ksct]

I had a similiar question about why we had poo all over the walls..... I was told, becuase the roost isn't far enough from the wall... turns out, yes, exactly why.
We have Buff Orpingtons and I know they have .... ahem... a bigger hind end

so they do need more room but I think a good rule of thumb is @ least 12" from the wall. plus that gives them the option to face whatever way they want without anything stopping them. We are actually going to be reconfiguring our interior within the next few weeks to accomodate a poop board and since we're only about 10" away from the wall we'd like to move it again. Plus I need to paint the walls with high gloss (if i can find any) to make cleaning a breeze.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

When we built our shed coop, the book I was using said to put roosts 18" from the wall. That's what we did and poop on the wall was never a problem.

 

[patandchickens]

My droppings boards are 14-16" wide, with a small space between them and the wall. (Chickens roost either direction, depending on their mood apparently). While a little bit of poo escapes my boards, the vast majority is caught, and I don't personally feel the urge for a wider board b/c you get into a situation of diminishing returns.

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[KenCoesta]

Excellent info!