Do roosts really need to be 18" from wall to avoid poop on wall?

[Edgars Mom]

Hello there... I'm reading conflicting information about this and I'm wondering if there are any of you who have perches less than 18" off of the wall, and if you have poop on the wall. One post I read was from a member who had 12" between same level roosts and they said that their chickens never got poop on the adjacent roost. This makes me wonder if 12" would be a sufficient amount of space from the wall... But... My barn is beautiful with hemlock boards that I don't want soiled.

I'm just designing the "furniture" in the coop (which is only 3.5' X 11') and every inch counts. I'm going to build a modular unit that can be moved that is 3.5' long with a roost over a poop board. I only have 3 hens (red sexlink). The depth of this unit will be determined by the distance from the wall it needs to be as well as whether I put one row of perches there or two. I'm planning to tuck nest boxes and water under the unit. I don't want the unit to be too deep or they will be able to go behind the nest boxes unless I build a false wall behind. It will also eat up a lot of floor space if it's too deep.

So, what is the minimum distance from the wall to the perch to avoid poop streaking down the wall? Do I need two rows of perches even though there is sufficient room for all three on the same perch?

 

[DobieLover]

I have mine just over 12" from the wall and they get the occasional blast. Not often.

 

[TheBajan]

With only three birds I would put one roost and one nesting box. If you are really concerned about the poop on the wall perhaps settle for a distance of 15" from the wall. With chickens there is no slam dunk way to keep poop from soiling your walls but I think 12" would be the minimum so if you can get a little further away than that you have a better chance of keeping it clean.

 

[iwltfum]

It kind of depends of how high the roosts are I think. I have a diagonal roosting bar with 5 sets of roosts that gradually get farther and farther way from the wall down to the floor and my closest roost the wall is about 2 feet. It's at least five feet high though. There is poop literally all over the lower portion of the wall behind the roost. A couple years ago while I was doing a major coop renovation, I had to cut the lower 4' of the wall completely off and replace it with a more water proof material (zip system) so that I didn't have to worry about the plywood getting ruined again. I think it's a trajectory thing. If your roosts are low, they can be closer to the wall without worrying about the walls getting soiled.

 

[Edgars Mom]

The trajectory thing makes sense... I'm thinking of doing 15" from the wall and having a single roost over the manure board. How far above the manure board should the perch be? I'm thinking 6-8"?

 

[middle TN Nancy]

For my 4 dominiques, I built one 43” long roost bar. It is about 2 feet above the floor with a droppings board about 8” below it. The roost is 12” from the wall because I used closet-rod shelf brackets to support it and that’s how far they stick out. The roost is a natural branch 2 1/2”- 3” diameter and it fits in the bracket pretty well. One screw holds the roost In the bottom of each of the rounded holders so I can easily take the roost out if I need to really clean it or replace it. On the wall behind the roost I put vinyl tiles for easy cleaning if necessary. My droppings board also slides out if I need to hose it off or something. The picture is right after I finished building it before I had any actual chickens LOL. I use a little shredded hemp on the droppings board which makes it easy to scoop poops without their sticking to the board.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How far above the manure board should the perch be?

How are you cleaning it? You just need enough room to clean it.

 

[aart]

The trajectory thing makes sense... I'm thinking of doing 15" from the wall and having a single roost over the manure board. How far above the manure board should the perch be? I'm thinking 6-8"?

That should work.
My roost is 12" from wall and 8" above poop board, rarely get a wall hit.

 

[whiteboy]

It all depends on if the wind is blowing and in which direction!