The perch experiment

i really liked reading this. I’d not given thought to chickens caring so much about their roosts. Thank you for doing this experiment and for sharing the results.

Nice job w/ your experiment. I enjoyed reading your blog on the test.

This is a very neat experiment. I can’t wait to see the rest!

Enjoyed this completely. Very good writing structure also (makes my happy). I’m in process of planning coop build to accommodate larger flock & now I’m confident that I’ll go with the flat-up 2x4 perch. In my current smaller coop, I used the largest dowel avail at Home Depot and literally saw my grown chickens having trouble gripping it. My solution was to fully wrap it in sport tape (used to wrap elbows, etc). I wrapped it using 4 rolls of $5 tape. Dowel cost $8; Tape cover cost $20. Yep, that’s a live & learn.
Thank you for documenting & sharing!

I’m so glad you undertook this! It has always seemed to me that a branch might be more comfortable and natural for them. Unless I learn a reason to do otherwise, I’m going to install branches when I build my coop.

Well thought out and scientific! Love seeing the updates as the author is able to provide them.

I am about to dive into your thread. There were a lot of measurements for lil ol’ me.

This study was very interesting to read. While I also thought it would be somewhat predictable, I couldn’t wait to read what the actual results were. Very good experiment.

I am impressed with your use of controls in this experiment. Your knowledge of the scientific method is superb, to the extent that your narrative describes nicely your design, results, and interpretations. With the detail you have described you have limited your conclusions to your population and not implied that it would be reproducible in other areas, with other coop designs, other breeds, etc. Hats off to your curious mind, it has provided me with data I can use in building my new coop in the following month! Thanks so much!

We will wait with bated breath for your return. Excellent infprmation. I won't be using pvc!

follow this is truly informative. I love d following along!

This is experiment not done yet, so I have hesitated to rate/review,
but so far the testing protocol and the documentation of the results it is excellent.
I have no doubt that it will be continue to be so.

This is a great article about a great idea! The methodology is reliable, and the results so far have been interesting and informative. The pictures really help explain what is being tried. I will be watching this post closely and make changes to my roosts accordingly. Thanks for this super helpful experiment!

I have always used branches because they looked natural and pretty. Interesting to see what happens. It would be cool to see if others who had chickens acclimated to different types of perches had different preferences.

Thank you for doing this experiment. I've been curious myself.

I look forward to every update! My girls roost on bales of hay in the lot. Theu have poles in there as well but have never liked them. They use to roost on top of pallets stacked on end not layed flat. When I put the hay bales in as a wind block they moved to those. I have considered the closet rods you are using now so I look forward to the results. I will be following to the end! My chickens have never like to roost holding anything/roosting on poles,sitting, they actually lay down at times to sleep, maybe my chickens are broken??!? Lol jk

Is it going to make any difference? Probably not.
What I like about this is True Patriot has read a thread on the forum and instead of accepting forum wisdom has decided to see for himself. I'm all for this. I've learn't more about chickens from chickens than I have from any forum. In order to learn from chickens you need to watch what they do in differing circumstances.
BYC should offer one of those award thingies titled, I found out for myself.

You just confirmed something I've found interesting ....
I have only 4BOs (19wks), they have 4 roost in their Chicken House. Right now they choose to roost on the lower front one and all squished to the right (closer to the door) and they roost in a certain order

The last set of 4BOs I had started roosting on the same but when they started laying, roosted above the nest (large plastic dog house) that has a poop board under it . There was just enough room for all of them but they were in a certain order, I banded them with colored wire ties. Prior to them I was given 5 Blue Wyandottes (6mo) they roosted above the nest, again just enough room but in a certain order.

BTW - I read 2x4 flat side up so that's what my roosts .... Waiting for your results.