Here is the rest of the new roost! My local hardware store had heavy-duty cotton drop cloths on clearance, so I cut up one to make the poop catcher underneath the new roost. I have read that the most droppings occur when they roost, so the idea is that this will make it easier to clean the coop. We’ll see!

I sewed pockets on each side for the small diameter PVC pipe, and one hem (I used the salvage edge on the other side).

Getting the PVC pipe and cloth through the channels that I made with larger PVC pipe was a little more difficult than I hoped, but not unworkable. And if the cotton turns out too absorbent, it will be easy to change material.

The chicks have not yet gone back up on the roost, so we’ll see how long it takes them to adjust.

New roost with poop catcher system

P.S. It took a few days before the chicks were willing to jump back up on the roost, but they eventually did it!

And there was poop in the poop catcher! As an added bonus, my muck bucket fits under perfectly, so I can just scrape the droppings straight into the bucket. Win.