any ideas for NON wood roost bar?

[Howard E]

Your last statement there is precisely why I went with natural tree branches for my roost bars. I had cut down an old hedge tree and a couple of the straighter branches were perfect. The texture of the bark along with the natural roundness of the branch just seemed natural for them. I know it's not what OP is looking for, but it worked for me!

BTW, your photo also points to a issue the old timers had settled on and that was to make each of the roost bars the same level. NOT a ladder type.....actually it was more like "NEVER a ladder type". Their observation was the birds will always make for the highest roost bar available to them, which leads to crowding and bedtime spats as they all try to crowd on. But this may have also been a bigger deal if you had 50 birds housed in a modest sized house and not all 50 would fit on one roost.

So hard to know in the photo above if they actually like the bigger sized perch or if it is simply the highest. Again........one could test it both ways to see what the birds tell them.

 

[ksguy]

I only have 7 birds, so they all fit on the upper roost. The lower one is there as a step from the ramp that's out of the picture. It also serves as a sort of passing lane to cross paths as they rearrange themselves at bedtime.

 

[Thechickentrainer1999]

Curious........what is the origin and reasoning of the 2 x 4 "flat side up"? I've heard that also from a local "expert" who holds classes on urban chickens. My local expert's reasoning was it allowed the hens to squat on the roost to keep their feet warm in cold weather.

I ask, as in the past, it was always 2 x 2, rounded over on the top edges. One resource I have goes even further and calls for a 1 x 2, with narrow side up and top edges rounded over. That was from a university poultry expert who went on to demonstrate the physical characteristics of a chicken's foot, and how it is made to grasp the roost and what size it needed to be to allow the birds to do so and to prevent injuries to their feet. By locking their feet over the roost, they won't fall off when they go to sleep at night.

Not sure that would be the case if they are balancing themselves on the flat side of a 2 x 4.

In either case, I'd think their feet would remain warm if the bird lowers themselves down so their feathers cover them up. That would be the way they would do it if roosting in the trees.

They real reason why it's best to have the 4inch side up is because it's supposed to prevent keel bone deformeties and foot problems. Not just to keep the feet warm. Anything smaller than the 4inches can put them at more risk.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

You can use bed mattress frames, just take out the rails! My eyes are becoming like chicken eyes ever since I started keeping chickens......... bed frames becomes roosting bars, baby cribs becomes chicken pens, entertainment centers become multiple brooding boxes..... I'm going CRAZY, someone call Dr. Phil I need help!!

 

[Folly's place]

I'm with Howard! Birds are meant to roost in trees, and mine have saplings out there, and also some of them roost in the rafters of my old coop section, which are 4" diameter fence posts. So, anything from about 1.5" to 4" diameter, different heights, and locations in the coop. Mostly, it's all about location!
Mary