Bantam Roosting Bar Diameter???

[Trishc100]

Hi All!
I’m rehabbing a hand me down chicken coop to house (6 max) assorted Bantams. What diameter of roosting bar do they need? The old bars were 2” x 4” laying on the wide side. Would Bantams prefer the narrower 2” side for their smaller feet? Any other areas of the coop I should try to modify to make my Banties happy?

 

[DobieLover]

It doesn't matter.
I would expect to find them up in the loft area of the coop or the upper nest boxes. They will fly as high as they can go. Bed your coop down thick with dry fluffy bedding to cushion them on the landing.

 

[aart]

Nests should be lower than roosts, and you don't need 6 nests for 6 birds.
I'd guess that they may sleep, and poop, in nests.

Roosts should be fairly low in a coop with such a small foot print.
Deep bedding on the floor won't keep them from flying into a wall on descent.

 

[Trishc100]

Thank you both for your input! Agreed - 6 nest boxes is overkill but we didn’t design this coop . It’s a hand me down so to speak. It does have a small footprint so I think the roosts will have to stay low & unfortunately level with the nest boxes but I can make a board to block the nest boxes off. I may make a door to block off the bottom three to use as storage.

 

[Trishc100]

Thank you both for your input! Agreed - 6 nest boxes is overkill but we didn’t design this coop . It’s a hand me down so to speak. It does have a small footprint so I think the roosts will have to stay low & unfortunately level with the nest boxes but I can make a board to block the nest boxes off. I may make a door to block off the bottom three to use as storage.

But I still would love to hear from some bantam owners on the roosting bar diameter. Banties will be half the size of a regular chicken. I understand they sleep on their feet and need adequate width to the bar for this. Bantams are smaller though and a 4” bar seems like their booties won’t hang off, leading to a constantly dirty bar. Am I right on this?

 

[MenelausMontrose]

My 3 month old bantams are happy on a 1.5" diameter stick. I may scale up to a 2" stick as they grow, but I don' t expect to go beyond that.

 

[Trishc100]

My 3 month old bantams are happy on a 1.5" diameter stick. I may scale up to a 2" stick as they grow, but I don' t expect to go beyond that.

Appreciate your input - thank you!