Poop Hammock Roost with Chicken Powerd Automated Door

Poop drop into the hammock and I scoop it out with an old bleach container cut in half. Great for my compost bins.
At night when the lights go out, all the chickens work their way to the top of the roost. It becomes top heavy and pivots up and lets the door down.
Like this video.



Does anyone else use poop hammocks or automated door?
Please post some pictures of your setups.
Thanks.
Kimball

that is neat, I probably have way too many chickens but i am going to look adapting to work. I want to build a new large coop this summer and that has given me some great ideas

bckev wrote:that is neat, I probably have way too many chickens but i am going to look adapting to work. I want to build a new large coop this summer and that has given me some great ideas

Thanks bckev. How many chickens do you have? At night I have 52 in that coop.
I had my son help me take a new video.

bcboy wrote:Does anyone else use poop hammocks or automated door?
Please post some pictures of your setups.
Thanks.
Kimball

No poop hammock, but I am planning a flat poop tray of sorts underneath my roosts. In it, I will have a layer of stall dry (powdered product used in horse stalls and other applications). When the chickens poop, the stall dry will draw the moisture and ammonia out of the poop. Then, I will just scoop the dry poop as needed, like a litter box, and dump it into the compost pile.

Similar to this idea (not my picture or my coop):


Stall Dry info: http://www.absorbentproductsltd.com/stall-dry-deodorization-and-ammonia-control.html
"Composed of a natural blend of food grade diatomaceous earth and clay in a granular form, which has the ability to neutralize ammonia and absorb odours and moisture."

Home Hardware carries it for $19.99/18 kg bag, but it is usually available at most feed store. Around here, anyway.

great video thanks. I have about 150 in my big house. Do you ever have chickens trapped outside. I have been thinking I want to build a narrower chicken house but with that design it may not be possible but with the advantage of an easier clean out it might be worth it. How often do you have to clean the tray.

bckev wrote:great video thanks. I have about 150 in my big house. Do you ever have chickens trapped outside. I have been thinking I want to build a narrower chicken house but with that design it may not be possible but with the advantage of an easier clean out it might be worth it. How often do you have to clean the tray.

There is one hen that I bought that is not related to the rest of the flock. She is the lowest on the pecking order and some time is out side when I check on them.

I have my boys every day after school check for eggs and then they clean the hammock out. They get about 1/3 of a 5 gallon bucket full and takes them less that 5 minutes. Right next to the coop is my 3 bay compost bin made out of used free pallets from the lumber store. There is very little ammonia smell in the coop. The litter is 6 month old now and I would say that it only needs to be replaces once a year.