Awkward roost layout

[Deano603]

They're 18-19 weeks now and still favor roosting up there instead of the other roosting bars I placed in. I had a series of lower roosts that I placed down low when they were about 6 weeks old and would move up as they could fly better, then one day I found them all roosted up on the 2x4s and they prefer to roost there still.

 

[Big Daddy Dye]

They're 18-19 weeks now and still favor roosting up there instead of the other roosting bars I placed in. I had a series of lower roosts that I placed down low when they were about 6 weeks old and would move up as they could fly better, then one day I found them all roosted up on the 2x4s and they prefer to roost there still.

Haha! Chickens have a mind of their own! Hope something works out for ya. But I will say that Sweet PDZ is way better than pine shavings.

 

[rusty acres]

4x5 is awfully way too small for 13 birds IMO....unless maybe you have a large, weather and predator proof run and live in a milder climate. There's a great article on Space by Ridgerunner link in my signature.


The '1' of roost length per bird' is a rule of thumb(def. a broadly accurate guide or principle) that does not always take into consideration variables that might exist.
If birds have to fly up to roosts they need more space to accommodate wing spread.
If you have a poop board 12" or less under roosts, you can get away with less length as they can navigate on the board and step up onto roosts as well as roost on the board itself(depending on configuration). That is why my 11' of roosts shown above can accommodate 25 birds...tho 11 of those are 15 weeks old and space is getting tight as they grow, 5-6 sleep on the 'cleaned every day' poop board. My flock population will be down to about 16 by the time winter hits.
Here they are when chicks were just 6-8 weeks old.

I live in Central Florida. Our whole coop set up is about 10x15 ft. The coop room is about 4x5 and we have a storage space that's about 3x4, with space underneath the rooms for the chickens to roam as well.

It sounds like I need to get some sweet pdz and put a tray under their roost.

 

[Deano603]

Haha! Chickens have a mind of their own! Hope something works out for ya. But I will say that Sweet PDZ is way better than pine shavings.

I'll have to get that set up tomorrow and give it a try, thank you for the help

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

@aart the coop is about 4x5 ft. I really appreciate pictures, it helps me to visualize what people are describing. Eventually, we are adding external nesting boxes, which will free up some space. If I had 2 bars going across long ways, that would be about 10 ft of space. I guess that would be plenty for 13 chickens?

Too small, stick with your two birds, maybe add two more or BUILD A BIGGER COOP

Good luck

Gary

 

[aart]

I live in Central Florida. Our whole coop set up is about 10x15 ft. The coop room is about 4x5 and we have a storage space that's about 3x4, with space underneath the rooms for the chickens to roam as well.

Ah, see, that makes a huge difference,
especially if your run is covered from rain....
.....which would also offer much needed shade in that climate.

 

[rusty acres]

Too small, stick with your two birds, maybe add two more or BUILD A BIGGER COOP

Good luck

Gary

I think my description wasn't clear. I have an roofed enclosed run of about 8x12, the coop/roost part where they sleep and lay is 4x5. The little blue coop you see in front was our original, then we built the bigger one. Hopefully the new coop will accommodate more than 4 birds, because we have 13 total (9 are chicks currently).

 

[rusty acres]

Ah, see, that makes a huge difference,
especially if your run is covered from rain....
.....which would also offer much needed shade in that climate.

It's actually about 8x12 ft total. I'm apparently not great at approximating measurements.

 

[aart]

It's actually about 8x12 ft total.

Always good to use a tape measure!
So do they sleep in the larger enclosure shown on the tiny(put the tape on that) blue one?

 

[rusty acres]

Always good to use a tape measure!
So do they sleep in the larger enclosure shown on the tiny(put the tape on that) blue one?

They sleep in the larger one.