Poo picking

[chris]

What do you use to poo pick? I've not really done it yet, just have been cleaning out once a week on average.

Now though - I plan to pick the poo with summer looming upon us. Over winter it wasn't bad in the garden as the rain/snow washed most of the poo away/broke it down fast.

I've recently cleaned up most of the poo and now plan to keep on top of it. I have tended to wait until it's hard then use a dust pan and brush - then sling it in the compost bin...

Int he run, it'll be clumped with shavings so easier to do this too, but what about for freshly laid ones - what do you do?

[Nicos]

Mine roost over shavings so I poo pick with a glove and a bucket.
I've found if the poo is left on the floor for more than a few days, the gals go and find somewhere else to lay instead of their boxes.
In the field area near the coop I brush up the dry soil then shovel it into a barrow.
The field area I leave to the rain to wash in.

[Feather]

I just go round every day with a bucket and pick it up wearing rubber gloves. After all, it's not objectionable stuff, only processed grass and layers pellets, not like dog poo. If you can get to it when it's fresh, before they tread it in, it's much easier to pick up intact. Because my run has a floor of rubber chippings I hose it down and disinfect it once a week and this takes care of any poos that are too sloppy to pick up. It's especially important to keep it clean inside the henhouse, removing muck daily for the droppings boards etc, to help avoid bacteria, ammonia fumes and parasites. After all, would you like to sleep above the floor of a dirty public lavatory? If you line the droppings board with newspaper you can just make a daily parcel with the top one or two sheets and pop it on the compost heap. Clean sheets every day for the girls!

[Suechooks]

In the coops I use a cat litter scoop and dustpan - the cat litter scoop helps filter clean hemcore. In the run I rake the wood chippings over and dig the lot out fairly often if its dry, very frequently if the weather is "inclement"!

[Flummery]

I use a kids' seaside spade and a broken barbecue fork - so I can scoop onto the spade with the fork. I do it every time I go in the run - several times a day. They go into a bucket by the coop door and from there into the dalek. Blimmin' good compost they make too!

[lettucegrow!]

I have an old dust pan and brush and sweep it up from the run twice a day and do the same as Feather with the newspaper and take a layer out wrapped up as a parcel each morning. All nice and clean each day.

[petal]

poo what?!?

[VirginVegGrower]

In the coops I use a cat litter scoop and dustpan - the cat litter scoop helps filter clean hemcore. In the run I rake the wood chippings over and dig the lot out fairly often if its dry, very frequently if the weather is "inclement"!

This is what I use and I poo pick out every day, topping their Aubiose as necessary. Complete bedding change every week.

[MarkN]

To pick the poo out of the nesting boxes I use my bare hands and drop it into the lid of the compost bin, and then chuck it in there (washing my hands thoroughly afterwards, of course).

[petal]

Blimey, I thought poo picking was just reserved for horses! A good clean out once a week is what I do!

[RichmondHens]

Blimey, I thought poo picking was just reserved for horses! A good clean out once a week is what I do!

Once a week in summer, twice a week in winter for me. The only time I pick up individual poos is when the broodies do those great big whoppers in their broody coops. I put a very thin layer of shavings underneath the perches (literally just a few handfuls - any more than that is a waste) and a deeper bed in the nestboxes. The nestboxes don't get cleaned out very often at all, just lots of diatom chucked in to deter lice and mite. I don't allow hens to sleep in them (unless they are broody when they withhold their poo) so they don't get dirty.

[petal]

exactly what I do!

[country chic]

I now use Aubiose which make poo picking very easy as it is highly obsorbent and dries the poo up quickly. Poo pick every morning with rubber gloves on and put it in a plastic big awaiting being dumped in the compost.

Top the Aubiose up as needed and complete clean out when I get round to it.

[SMS6]

just found this thread while doing a search and wanted to pick up on it again. I poo pick every day from their sleeping area where I have a thin layer of sawdust, I just scoop it out with a sort of spade. I give the house a good wash once a week and dust with mite deterrent, changing all the bedding etc then. I have just started blocking off the nest boxes at night to try and encourage roosting but used to clean the nest area every morning. I use shredded paper in there with sawdust underneath

We move the whole house and run set up every week if possible but What I'm wondering is how do you all deal with the grassed area they've just been moved from? Do you just leave the poo to 'feed' the lawn or do you try and scoop most of it up and then use some sort of santizer?

They do also have free time around the garden when we're there so could and do still peck around the areas already used.

[Munch]

with summer looming upon us.

Are you avin a larf!