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Plastic coop tray vs. hardware cloth bottom, one was a clear winner
After 8 months of scraping poop off that plastic tray every weekend, I swapped it for hardware cloth over a deep sand pit. The flies dropped by maybe 80% and I only shovel the sand out twice a year now. Anyone else made the switch or is there a downside I'm missing?
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wren_smith445d ago
The flies dropping makes sense but the sand is doing more of that work than the hardware cloth. Poop falls through the wire either way, the difference is that sand dries it out fast so flies can't breed in it. If you'd put that same deep sand pit under the plastic tray with a gap, you'd have seen most of the same drop. Hardware cloth does have a downside though and that's wear. Chicken poop is acidic and the wire will rust out in a few years, especially where it meets the frame, so check it every so often or you'll get a hole and something will dig in. Also fine sand can pack up and stop draining if you don't turn it, which is probably why you're shoveling it out twice a year anyway.
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