sn0wwhite's Wichita Coop for the Twin Cities

I took a look back at your photos - found the one that shows something on the floor of the hen house then looks like there is a poop collector then your roost. from studying the plans from Wichita coop for when I build ours, i'd say you have the roost too high. looking at another photo I see you have the nesting box centered on the wall - that's not the issue. from one of the Wichita cabin photos, there are two roosting poles; 1st one is roughly even with the height of the top of the nesting boxes and somewhat centered in the henhouse (adjacent to the pop door, then the 2nd roosting pole is another 12"/18" above the 1st and closer to the back wall.

hope this helps. -Sam

sn0wwhite said:

Hmmm... the razor blade wasn't working as well on the silicon fingerprints, but a magic eraser has done well.

By the way, the chickens came down from their roost in the house yesterday but I have been putting them up every night and I had to let them down again today. It's 30 inches up... is that too high? Or is the poop board about 4 inches below it in the way?

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How old are they? Are their wings clipped?
Might just take some time...or you could add a ramp.
I had to add a ramp, but they go from the roost 8" down to the poop board then jump down from there 30" to the floor...and there's only 4 feet from poop board to wall.
Pullets can fly up and down but big girls and boy have clipped wings(got them that way).

Sam3 Abq said:

I took a look back at your photos - found the one that shows something on the floor of the hen house then looks like there is a poop collector then your roost. from studying the plans from Wichita coop for when I build ours, i'd say you have the roost too high. looking at another photo I see you have the nesting box centered on the wall - that's not the issue. from one of the Wichita cabin photos, there are two roosting poles; 1st one is roughly even with the height of the top of the nesting boxes and somewhat centered in the henhouse (adjacent to the pop door, then the 2nd roosting pole is another 12"/18" above the 1st and closer to the back wall.

hope this helps. -Sam

Click to expand...

aart said:

How old are they? Are their wings clipped?
Might just take some time...or you could add a ramp.
I had to add a ramp, but they go from the roost 8" down to the poop board then jump down from there 30" to the floor...and there's only 4 feet from poop board to wall.
Pullets can fly up and down but big girls and boy have clipped wings(got them that way).

Click to expand...

They're 20 weeks old today and their wings aren't clipped. They flew up to the top of the coop while I was building it, both to the 5 foot side and the 7 foot side!

chickiegrrl said:

Is there any way you could make a little ramp so they could go up without having to fly up?

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So, yes, Sam, I think you're right, my roost isn't in the right place. I was trying to keep it above the pop door and window AND allow for a poop board. A ramp may help, but I may also just end up moving it all once I get that door in.

I'm thinking I don't want the roost right in front of the window... would everyone agree with that or is it ok? The window faces West/North West BUT it's blocked from most breezes by my house and it's under our deck.

My girls' roost is right in front of the window. They love to look outside while they roost. When we say goodnight, they tweet at us. I don't think it would be too cold as long as it's not open and they're not getting a draft.

my 2 cents = ok to have roost in front of window

one other question would be the roost pole - I see a lot of people using 2x4's and some use smooth poles (maybe too slick). I plan to use a natural wood branch/pole roughly 2" diameter (a more natural feel and size for their feet to balance on.

I am using a 2x4 on its side.

I let them pile on the floor tonight. I will be putting the glass in the window yomorrow night and then I'll move the roost.

sn0wwhite said:

I am using a 2x4 on its side.

I let them pile on the floor tonight. I will be putting the glass in the window yomorrow night and then I'll move the roost.

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Which side? 2" or 4" up?

4" side to roost on... Parallel to the floor. (Man I hope I got that right..)

sn0wwhite said:

4" side to roost on... Parallel to the floor. (Man I hope I got that right..)

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If I may weigh in, I've been following your build, really nice. As for the roost mine is about 4.5 ft off the floor, and another about 2-2.5 from the floor. Mine have no problems getting up and probably half of them just fly out the door when I open it in the AM, the rest just plop down. They will figure it out however you do it, I have changed the configuration a few times and they figure out what they like pretty quick. They mostly huddle together on one end or the other (mostly the north end). I have no poop board just hay underneath (or pine flakes just started with the hay. There is a window on the north and south end walls. Mine free range all day and go in just before dark, when I go out to do a head count and close the door for the night. Good luck and don't worry so much they will do what they want anyways lol.

Walt

PS I read in another thread that hens tend to lay in the northern most nest and like the north end of the roost (or as close as they can) and they seem to have a "favorite" nest box to the extent there may be 2 in it at once.

waltandlori said:

...Good luck and don't worry so much they will do what they want anyways lol.

Walt

PS I read in another thread that hens tend to lay in the northern most nest and like the north end of the roost (or as close as they can) and they seem to have a "favorite" nest box to the extent there may be 2 in it at once.

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Thanks, Walt!

How far are your roosts from the wall? It almost seems like when I put them up there they feel crowded because the one day I had Omelet (our alpha chicken) facing forward, they all hopped down but the day I had her facing the wall she would not turn around and so would not hop down and so they all stayed up there.

I'm going to post a picture of the wall opposite the window next. The window is framed with 2x4s so attaching a roost on that side is no problem, but the opposite wall is about a 5 foot stretch of the 1" shiplap boards and I can bow it ever so slightly if I push on it. I'm going to need to figure a way to attach the roost to that side if I move it... Do I just put up another 2x4 post from the floor to the ceiling?