Great Setup! I'm just building an IBC Chicken Coop too now. Im also trying to solve the problem of reducing cleanout frequency of chick manure from coop. So what Im trying is to raise the IBC and cut out the bottom then replace with a walkable mesh. So poop falls through to mulch bedding below. The mulch can be raked out periodically, hopefully fortnightly and used around plants. Any tips or ideas are appreciated 👍.
Why don't you do the deep bedding system? There's plenty of space - height - to the IBC. It's protected from the wet. The added benefit is that the poop decomposes along with the covering, be it wood chip, pine shavings etc. It is better than the ammonia fumes of the poop which cause respiratory illness in chickens. You don't get rain there? Well then, if you do I suggest a decking of roofing iron over the nesting boxes and the IBC quarters of your chickens, elevated to run off towards the side so that the area of your "Run" won't be affected by wet. Maybe, install a water capture system .
Hi Carolle, good question, we do love a deep bedding system which we use for our goats and the geese. We’ve found with the chickens that they start to find ways to get into the bedding and lay their eggs there meaning we lose a few eggs and also they get overly soiled. To avoid and issues with illness with ammonia you can add a little lime to the trays to counter the fumes. We then compost all of the droppings and use on the vegetable beds. Thanks
I don't reccomend this if it gets really hot. They can act like a greenhouse and get surprisingly hot. If you live somewhere cool though, that greenhouse effect is real handy!
