Roosting bar questions -- dimensions

[Poppy Putentake]

Hi all, hoping to tap into all the wisdom here.

What would good measurements be for a "ladder" type set of roosting bars?

How far apart should they be in the horizontal dimension? The vertical dimension? How high should the lowest one be?

If a roosting bar is parallel to the wall, how far away should it be?

Poop boards -- how big should they be, and how far under the roosts?

If a single roosting bar with a poop board is next to a wall, how wide should the poop board be and how far from the wall should the roost be?

 

[RojoMarz]

We have a Poop board with roost. The board is 24” wide with the roost centered on the board. The roost is about 12" off the board.

 

[Poppy Putentake]

We have a Poop board with roost. The board is 24” wide with the roost centered on the board. The roost is about 12" off the board.

View attachment 3483596

Thanks for your reply -- t looks, though, like the roosting bar is actually closer to the edge than to the wall -- is that so? Do the droppings all end up on the board or do some eend up on the floor?

Also, I like the two-tier nesting boxes -- do the hens use the lower or the upper ones more?

 

[RojoMarz]

Thanks for your reply -- t looks, though, like the roosting bar is actually closer to the edge than to the wall -- is that so? Do the droppings all end up on the board or do some eend up on the floor?

Also, I like the two-tier nesting boxes -- do the hens use the lower or the upper ones more?

No, the roost bar is centered. Could be the angle of the photo throwing it off. In this pic, look at the circled area. It may show the dimensions better. I do not get poop on the floor unless the one hen that always roosts on the poop board tray edge roosts backwards. She normally roosts so poop is on the board.

We actually have too many nest boxes, for the number of hens we have. But, yes, I do get eggs in the lower boxes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What would good measurements be for a "ladder" type set of roosting bars? How far apart should they be in the horizontal dimension? The vertical dimension?

12" is a good dimension for both. If they are 12" apart horizontally they are not likely to poop on a chicken sleeping below them. If they are 12" apart vertically you wind up with a ladder they can sort of hop up so they don't need to spread their wings and fly up. That gives you a 45 degree slope which is reasonably efficient as far as using space.

How high should the lowest one be?

So they can hop up from the coop floor. About 12" up from the top of the bedding is a good target.

If a roosting bar is parallel to the wall, how far away should it be?

12". That gives them room to sleep on the roost without crowding against it. That should keep the poop off of the wall but you can get an occasional "energetic" hen.

Poop boards -- how big should they be,

The edges should be 12" past the center of the roost. That should catch all of the poop.

and how far under the roosts?

Enough distance so you can clean the board. How do you plan to clean it? I scrape mine with a garden hoe (with a short broken handle so I don't knock out my window when I scrape) so I need maybe 6" of vertical clearance. Mine is 36" wide as I have two parallel roosts. Some people use scoops or some other method to clean. Your cleaning method will determine what you need for access.

If a single roosting bar with a poop board is next to a wall, how wide should the poop board be and how far from the wall should the roost be?

Same as I said above, the roost 12" from the wall and the board 12" wider than the roost.

 

[arazla]

12" is a good dimension for both. If they are 12" apart horizontally they are not likely to poop on a chicken sleeping below them. If they are 12" apart vertically you wind up with a ladder they can sort of hop up so they don't need to spread their wings and fly up. That gives you a 45 degree slope which is reasonably efficient as far as using space.


So they can hop up from the coop floor. About 12" up from the top of the bedding is a good target.


12". That gives them room to sleep on the roost without crowding against it. That should keep the poop off of the wall but you can get an occasional "energetic" hen.


The edges should be 12" past the center of the roost. That should catch all of the poop.


Enough distance so you can clean the board. How do you plan to clean it? I scrape mine with a garden hoe (with a short broken handle so I don't knock out my window when I scrape) so I need maybe 6" of vertical clearance. Mine is 36" wide as I have two parallel roosts. Some people use scoops or some other method to clean. Your cleaning method will determine what you need for access.


Same as I said above, the roost 12" from the wall and the board 12" wider than the roost.

Would you mind posting a picture of your set-up? It seems we did ours all wrong.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My set-up was totally different from yours. I had tree limbs all at 5 feet height, no ladder. I lost all my photos in a computer crash and have moved to a new location so no photos. Dad had a ladder roost but that building has been gone for over 20 years.