Actual Feet Posture on Various Size Roosts (And Chicken's Preference)

[rosemarythyme]

I use branches, though smaller ones (around 2" diameter) and some of my heavier birds have some degree of keel scabbing on the skin. I honestly wouldn't have noticed it except one had gone broody and while looking at her broody patch I noticed the scab area.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I found that confusing too, until I took a closer look at the picture. It shows chickens sleeping on a person ("yourself," the flock owner.)



In addition to all those places, chickens will take naps on a person too.

tee hee

 

[Outta Here]

Continued nocturnal observation by an obsessed researcher: In order for chickens to have their butts hang down when roosting, their hocks also hang downward. If the roost is too wide, they will scoot back to allow their butt and a small portion of their folded hocks to hang over the back edge. Perhaps having their hocks hang downward is why they don't like roosting on a shelf.
So I was all worried about pressure point midway on the legs, thus I provided them with a 2x6 flat side up, but they will purposely endure pressure points and give up having their toes over the front edge to gain that downward drop of their butt and hocks!
So too narrow a roost is not good, but too wide can be not ideal, also!
This gives a lot more credence to round 4"-6" branches or poles being better suited to allow butt and folded hocks to hang downward without pressure points. Hmmm....Jury's still out on whether rounded roosts contribute to keel damage.
My solution for today was to rip half of the length of my 2x6 flat side up roost into a 2x4 flat side up. The bigger chickens can choose the wider side and the smaller can choose the more narrow.
Then everybody can enjoy what seems to be the chosen roosting posture of chickens-- toes peeking over the front edge, most of body supported, butt and hocks dropping over the back edge.
Of course, I admit that having a dual-width roost may be a bit of fussy overkill--what would my simple advice be to a newbie? A 2x4 flat side up is great for most chickens.
I'm beginning to feel like a drill sergeant at night call, "All toes over the front edge? All hocks over the back edge? Check! Lights Out!



p.s. My husband was laughing at my research, but I told him to imagine if we were in captivity and our caretakers were trying to figure out how humans liked to sleep. They'd see us on the concrete floor and notice we were sleeping with our arms under our heads, so they'd figure out we needed pillows. Then they'd notice we would crawl on top of any rags on the concrete floor and so they'd realize we liked some cushioning. Then they'd notice (if we were lucky enough to have observant keepers!) that we shivered in the cold, so they'd provide a blanket, etc., etc.,

 

[Outta Here]

Watching my hens on the roost today with their sleeping heads hanging down below the roost, another thought occurred to me: maybe the hocks and butt hanging over the back serve as counterweight!

 

[Swbertrand1]

I know roost width seems to be a controversial topic, and I don't have the final answer for everyone, just a few thoughts to throw into the mix. I've read all the commercial tests but decided to investigate with my own flock. Some say chickens don't care, but our chickens have no choice of roost except what we provide, so they adjust even if our roosts are not optimal for their comfort or health. Who knows whether we are causing foot or keel or leg problems with the wrong size roost?
I spent a lot of time over the past week watching chicken feet as they settle down to roost on various widths. I've even felt gently under them to see what positions their toes are in! Also, which toe position do they seem to prefer for overnight roosting? Over the past few days, I have substituted their roost with ones of various width, painted the same color. They accepted them all, except one, which half of them rejected. I live in Arizona, so cold feet will never be an issue.
My flock has been roosting on a 2x4 I ripped to measure exactly 2.5" wide on the flat side because I read somewhere that's the ideal width. It is completely strong enough to span 8'--does not bow at all with 1 huge rooster and 13 four- month-old pullets. They have access to a shelf in front of the elevated next boxes, also.

Note: All lumber is 1/2" smaller than its designation: 2x4 is actually 1.5"x3.5"

MY ROOST TEST RESULTS:
1. When my pullets and rooster settle on the 2.5" roost, they tuck, sometime cross, their feet cozily with about 1/4"- 1/2" of their toes over the front edge. Their back toes are tucked facing forward. They are not gripping/perching. They can balance and walk along the roost easily. Their keel comes in contact and about half of their leg. I wondered whether the edge (yes, it's rounded) puts pressure on this halfway point of their leg? Do they all roost on this size, showing their approval? Yes.

2. When they settle on a shelf, their tails can't hang down and their toes can't protrude over the edge. They nap on my lawn furniture cushions, but for night roosting, my flock rejects the shelf. They only resorted to it when I introduced the roost width half of them refused--2x4 on edge.

2. When they settle on a 2x4 on edge, they tuck, sometime cross, their feet cozily with about 1/4"- 1/2" of their toes over the front edge. Their back toes are tucked facing forward. They are still not gripping/perching. Balance walking along the roost is a bit more difficult. The pressure point on both the keel and midpoint of the leg is more acute. Do they all roost on this size, showing their approval? No, half of my flock refused it and settled on a shelf instead.

3. When they fly from their roost in the morning to greet me by perching on the 1/2" edge of a wall of plywood, their feet are very tightly curled, with the back toe facing backward, gripping. They are truly perching. Balance is very difficult, pressure point on keel is extreme. Do they like to stay there? Not for long.

5. When they settle on a 2x4 flat side up, they tuck, sometime cross, their feet cozily with about 1/4"-1/2" of their toes over the front edge. Their back toes are tucked facing forward. They are not gripping/perching. They can balance and walk along the roost easily. Pressure points on keel and leg is evenly distributed, except there is a pressure point on the larger rooster's legs. Do they all roost on this size, showing their approval? Yes.

6. When they settle on tree branches about 4"-6" diameter, they tuck, sometime cross, their feet cozily with about 1/4"- 1/2" of their toes over the front edge. Their back toes are tucked facing forward. They are not gripping/perching. Their keel contacts the branch, but much of their leg does not because of the roundness. They can walk along the branch easily. They seem to enjoy this roost. I wondered whether the roundness beneficially allows their legs to hang slightly downward? This is probably the most natural roost...

7. When they settle on the 2x6 flat side up, they tuck, sometime cross, their feet cozily with about 1/4"-1/2" of their toes over the front edge. Their back toes are tucked facing forward. They are not gripping/perching. They can balance and walk along the roost very easily. Their entire body is supported, with no pressure points on keel or legs, even the large rooster's. Do they all roost on this size, showing their approval? Yes. I believe they like this one the best, because of the comfort and because they can more easily crawl/hop over each other for the favored places along the roost. This is the one I will keep.

CONCLUSION:
So my personal observations on my little test is that chickens are very able to grip and perch tightly on very small diameter branches or dowels, but they are also able to walk and sleep flat-footed. This was true of their slim, high-flying ancestors, too. Their feet are amazing in their agility to mold to the contour of whatever size they must walk along or sleep on. But because they have this agility, does that mean they "need" or want to sleep perching like a parakeet? To achieve that, the roost or branch must be extremely narrow. Anything wider than 1" and they sleep flat-footed, back toe facing forward, front toes slightly over the edge. Do they choose a narrow perch freely? Are they actually "perchers" for nighttime sleeping? In the daytime, for a bit, sometimes. At night? No.
So my conclusion is that a wider roost (4"-6") makes balance easier, distributes weight and pressure points and is my flock's roost of choice. Someday I will try a 4"-6" branch if I can find an 8' long one! I have a feeling that might be perfection.

My $.02 worth:

I like your test! What better way to figure out what the girls like, right?

We use 2x4s laid flat side up for our roosts and the chickens seem very comfortable at night. When we made our roost bars for our coop, we used about a 1/2" radius round-over bit on a router to contour the board edges more than they were from the mill.

Our coop has a juveniles side too with 2x2s for roost bars since their feet are smaller, and the babies readily roost on those bars as well with the same round-over on the upside edges.

 

[texsuze]

The coop inside my barn has porches extending out at each entrance to allow a ramp to be attached. Two of these porches have a removable section of cheap, low pile carpet on them. In the summer my Dominique hen loves to lay on her carpeted "summer porch" in sternal recumbency. She is often still in that position when I do barn night check each night. In the morning there are often several perfect poops on the carpet which leads me to believe she spends most or all of the night on this porch, despite having lots of room on her 2x4 (wide side up, chamfered edges) roost.

Another important consideration, in addition to the diameter and orientation of roosts, as pointed out by the OP, is roost height as your chickens age. I am in the process of lowering two of my 'leisure roosts' (i.e. used other than sleeping) and adding another lower roost in my coops/runs, since my hens range in age from 4 to 8 years. I've noticed that my 8 y.o. requires extra oomph to reach a leisure roost, hence the modifications. YMMV

 

[RoyalChick]

You all have me hooked now! I am going to investigate toes tonight. I will also examine them for keel injuries.
Mine sleep on a huge branch - maybe 6" or more diameter at its widest. They have other smaller branches at the same height to choose from but they like the widest part of the big branch.
I do notice they sometimes stand up at night and appear to sleep standing up - they seem to do that when it is very hot so I had not thought of it as a problem with the roost and more a way of getting air circulating.

 

[Outta Here]

You all have me hooked now! I am going to investigate toes tonight. I will also examine them for keel injuries.
Mine sleep on a huge branch - maybe 6" or more diameter at its widest. They have other smaller branches at the same height to choose from but they like the widest part of the big branch.
I do notice they sometimes stand up at night and appear to sleep standing up - they seem to do that when it is very hot so I had not thought of it as a problem with the roost and more a way of getting air circulating.

Great! Please let us know your findings about the branch!

 

[Outta Here]

Maybe now we chicken keepers "hooked" on researching the best roost for health and comfort need to have mirrored roosts? Plexiglass see-through roosts? Pressure sensing mats?

 

[Outta Here]

My last discovery was that even the huge rooster prefers the 2x4 flat side up to the 2x6 flat side up. (Previously discovered they did not like the 2x4 narrow side up, since chickens don't actually "perch" for overnight sleeping.)
My hours of close observation of chicken feet settling down on the roost shows that chickens like to sleep flat footed, all four toes forward, hanging a tad over the front edge.
But they want even more for their hocks and butt to hang down, so on the 2x6 flat side up roost they would scoot back, sacrificing their preferred toes-over-the-edge position.
So I took out my experimental half 2x4 half 2x6 and replaced it with an 8' 2x4 flat side up. Everybody's happy!