Best materials for roosts?

[Howard E]

No you haven't......yours was more of a practical solution......but others do. I'd guess the vast majority of folks posting on BYC about this recite cold toes as their main reason for using a 2 x 4 and placing it wide side up.

As for toes hanging over.....yes front toes hang over either way. The point being where are the back toes?

A pair of pliers are only able to grip something as there are two jaws.............chicken feet work the same way. Front and back toes are both needed to put a grip on the roost.

 

[JackE]

No you haven't......yours was more of a practical solution......but others do. I'd guess the vast majority of folks posting on BYC about this recite cold toes as their main reason for using a 2 x 4 and placing it wide side up.

As for toes hanging over.....yes front toes hang over either way. The point being where are the back toes?

A pair of pliers are only able to grip something as there are two jaws.............chicken feet work the same way. Front and back toes are both needed to put a grip on the roost.

Well, I guess their back toes are resting comfortably on the roost. I tell you what, if they start falling off at night, I'll cut the 2X4s down to 2X2s.

 

[aart]

Well, I guess their back toes are resting comfortably on the roost. I tell you what, if they start falling off at night, I'll cut the 2X4s down to 2X2s.

I have both wide and narrow 2x4 surface available, most choose the wide, some choose a larger flat surface(poop board).

 

[Howard E]

For even more information, here is yet another link to a poultry husbandry book where the size and layouts of proper roost bars are discussed.

https://books.google.com/books?id=B...#v=onepage&q=fool proof poultry house&f=false

Roll down to Chapter 2, around page 22. Read what he has to say about both roost size and orientation.......except he even poo poo's the notion of a 1 x 2....wide side up. His preference for leghorns was to use a 1" x 2" (was the actual size back then) roost bar NARROW side up. And discusses corns, bumblefoot and all. Also, make special note of the fact that in all this, the notion that birds needed to keep their feet warm....as was the case in the modern iteration of this same type of study...... is not mentioned once.

In my Woods coop, I actually have two roost bars. One actually is a 1" x 2" (the exact same as Quisenberry described....a full 1".....not 3/4"), along with a 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" and the birds use both of them the same. Half will be on one, and half on the other. Generally all of them huddled together on one side or the other.

BTW, lots of other good info in that book for the hopelessly curious. This guy was a contemporary of Dr. Woods, and was in charge of a large research station devoted almost entirely to working out the best practices for average sized farm flocks. They built them all, tried them all and boiled it all down to what worked best and why. A lot of what we use today, as far as roost space requirement, bird space requirements, ventilation requirements and methods......can be traced directly back to these efforts.

In short, the wheel was invented a long time ago. No need to do it again.

 

[Hokum Coco]

If your birds are not using the roost you are providing or you hear them constantly complaining about them you might try one of the methods discussed they all seem to be working fine.

 

[chuckmama]

I have two roast bars 8’ long each. Both are 2x4 with one flat side up the other, slightly higher, is narrow side up. They use the narrow side up one mostly, possibly because it is higher. Previously though both were narrow side up and they used both. Go figure. I have 7 chickens now. I found one dead yesterday.

 

[lilmillefleur]

We need to do an experiment to see which way is better.
We've only used straight branches because to me they look better. We'll have to try out both and see which the chickens like better.

 

[bruceha2000]

There are too many other variables to learn much from an experiment, at least in my flock. Bird on bird dynamics may have a bird roosting in a place less to its liking because it is being bullied by another. Location of the roost in the coop.

I think roost height is another variable, though that could be more easily tested. They seem to like to roost on the highest thing possible. As I said before, none of mine have ever roosted on the 2' rail. When I had the broody buster cage sitting on the parallel roosts, one of my girls was wedging herself on top of it between the cage and the hardware cloth covered "ceiling" of the coop. Is that more comfortable than a "perch" made of wood of some shape and size?

 

[JavaLady]

I am about to change my roost to a 2x4 with the 4-inch section where they will sit at night. i've recently read that they like to sit down at night and completely cover their feet with their feathered bodies for warmth. And the wide perch will let the flock snuggle up tight together for warmth on cold nights. I am also hoping that the 4-inch wide board will be easier to scrape poop off of when I am cleaning out the coop. I had used a closet dowel for the roost and they don't seem to like it this year at all as I've found them roosting on the bottom of the upper deck instead of the post that is right above them. I am going to change my Wheel placement soon too with some of those 'adjustable wheels' on the board that is moveable, and will reinforce the handle that i use for moving my tractor. Note to self: remember to move the chicken tractor BEFORE you fill up the 5 gallon insulated water container because that water is HEAVY. LOL

 

[Hokum Coco]

I am about to change my roost to a 2x4

I also have gone this route. My roost are only 3½" higher than my poop boards. All my flock with a few exceptions of the birds on the lower end of the pecking order roost on the 2x4. One bonus of having the poop board so close to the roost is eggs laid through the night are always in tact.