Where to put roosting bars

[BeatrixRae]

Hello,

I'm new! My coop is 3'x2' not including the nesting boxes. It came with one roosting bar installed that is 26.5" from the floor and about 12" from the peak of the roof. I need two roosting bars and a bit unsure of the best configuration. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Julia62]

We are new too! We built our coop and it is 40" x 48" with a slant roof. We have two roosting bars in it. We put the lower one about 10" in front of the other. We just brought our 10 week old chicks home yesterday and all three were on the top roost this morning.

This pic is before shavings are in:

 

[thomasboyle]

Beatrix, how many chickens are you looking to house? A 2x3 coop will fit approx 3 full size birds, maybe 4 smaller ones. If your 1 roost is 3' long, you should be fine. You could put 2 roosts across the narrower side to get an extra foot of roost space, 12" from the end walls and each other. I would mount them 15" above the floor so the chickens can easily walk under them, but they are not too high (2x3 does not give a lot of flight room!)

 

[BeatrixRae]

Lovely coop! Do you not worry about the birds on the upper roost pooping onto the lower roost?

 

[BeatrixRae]

Thanks! I can't see why they put the roosting bar so high when it's narrow inside. I like the idea of two across or maybe doing an "X".

 

[Julia62]

Lovely coop! Do you not worry about the birds on the upper roost pooping onto the lower roost?

So far the lower roost is just a place to hop onto the upper roost! But, yes f they used it, someone might get nailed! We did some modifications as we built it and if our roof was higher we would have had more room (we were going to hatch the roof for getting eggs but made a hatch on the exterior wall instead). We might put the nest boxes on the exterior, then we will move that roost bar, but for now, all four use the top one and there is plenty of room for them up there. Four is our max for this coop.

 

[6of6chicks]

We are new too! We built our coop and it is 40" x 48" with a slant roof. We have two roosting bars in it. We put the lower one about 10" in front of the other. We just brought our 10 week old chicks home yesterday and all three were on the top roost this morning.

This pic is before shavings are in:

Oh my goodness, your coop is adorable!! I love how it is decorated - especially the pictures on front. I may have to borrow that idea!

 

[LindaB220]

So far the lower roost is just a place to hop onto the upper roost! But, yes f they used it, someone might get nailed! We did some modifications as we built it and if our roof was higher we would have had more room (we were going to hatch the roof for getting eggs but made a hatch on the exterior wall instead). We might put the nest boxes on the exterior, then we will move that roost bar, but for now, all four use the top one and there is plenty of room for them up there. Four is our max for this coop.

Beautiful coop.