2x4's for roost?

[Jferlisi]

I use 2x4's inside my coop with the 4 side up. I dont think it really matters if you dont get to cold of weather but i like to have the 4 just incase. You never know what could happen. And the who chickens need so much room per chicken. well i have 3 roost bars all at the same height and they are 4 feet long with only 11 chickens and 2 are silkies and 2 are leghorns. So thats alot of roost. and i find they dont even use half it. They like to huddle all together so just make sure you have room so it looks like a few more can be put up there and you should be good.

 

[Judy]

I originally installed mine with the 2" side up, about 30" off the ground. They roosted happily. Then I found BYC and read that I should have installed them with the wide side up. There were two roosts so I added a board to make one of them wide, left the other alone. Everyone moved to the wide one -- even though the narrow one was back in the corner, the spot that is supposed to be for the dominant chickens.

 

[OkChickens]

Quote:
Same here, everyone I know of in our area uses either 2 X 4's with the 2" side up or peeled poles around 3" around. I think it might make more sense up north where it's colder though. Ours are around 3' off the ground too. Never had any problems so far.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/17452_img_0005.jpg

I have roosts almost identical to these! They work great for me! 2x4's keeps them plenty. Warm here!

-Nate

 

[dldolan]

Quote:
Very interesting! I am glad to read that before I do coop #2...

 

[chickerdoodle]

I use a 2x4 with the wide side up. I sanded the edges for their comfort and to prevent hurting their little toes. My roost is 18" from the wall and off the floor. Higher can cause foot injuries but I know many who have them at 24" high with no issues.

And

 

[tammyd57]

I've always used 2" x 4"s with the wide side up for large fowl. Not so much for toe warmth (it doesn't get all that cold here) but for their comfort. Chickens don't seem to like having to curl their toes around a roost and hang on while sleeping. They like to sleep flat footed. A very small thing to do for their comfort, just turning the board the other way............(and for long boards that may collapse under the weight of a lot of big fat hens-- a couple vertical supports work nicely.)

 

[tammyd57]

Quote:
I don't think I've ever heard that roosts more than 18" high can cause foot injuries. I've never had a roost that short, and never had any foot injuries with hundreds of chickens over the years. I'm not saying it can't happen, just that I'd never heard that.

 

[annaraven]

I was planning on two roosts - one 4 ft up and another 3 ft up. Is that too high? I was going to put
a ramp board to give them a way to climb up if they preferred... Will that work do you think?

 

[tammyd57]

Quote:
3 and 4 foot roosts are not too high. I've had them up to 7 feet high inside the coop and they don't have any problems getting up there if they have enough room to spread their wings to help them. I have 3 hens right now that prefer to sleep on the frame of my carport, which is about 8-1/2 feet high and a thin metal tube. They are at the bottom of the pecking order and don't want to argue about where they get to sleep every night, so they made their own bed outside the coop.

 

[dsqard]

I also use 2X4's with the wide side up. It gets pretty darn cold here in Utah so I think they appreciate the wider span to be able to completely cover their feet. I have mine about four feet off the ground with no problems. The main reason I put them up that high was so that it would be higher than the nest boxes. Read on here that they should be higher than the nest boxes so that they wouldn't roost in the boxes.