Can someone please tell me why I never see roosts in the runs?

[GiddyMoon]

Thank you..and I was referring to caged in pens. It seems a waste to pay for fencing so high that is only being used by a human to walk into. I lived near Old Fair Oaks for years..there are hundreds of free range chickens there and we watched them constantly play in the trees, hop on tables, limbs, bushes, etc. They didn't just walk around. It just seems to make sense that if we have all this square footage in a wired run that we paid for and worked so hard to give them... we should make the most of it by providing places for them to play on naturally instead of just pecking at the floor.

 

[Buff-Island-Australorp]

I have 4 week olds....and they don't use it too often, but I put a small one up in my run. They also have 2 tree stumps I put in there, and they hop up there all the time. My roost in the run is just a piece of 1x2 pine board that I mounted with shelf brackets. about 18" off the ground.

 

[ChixMama]

We have a bunk bed ladder fastened to the side of the run so it's at an angle. After the girls eat in the morning I think it's a contest to see who can get on the top rung and be "queen of the ladder"! I'd like to find some large limbs to create a climbing/lounging area for them. Whatever works in your run...and you could always change things out from time to time to make it interesting for them

 

[NonnasBabies]

I have a big roost that I made out of tree limbs in my run! They love it!!

 

[PapaChaz]

i don't have roosts in the run, but i did put some of those round concrete landscaping things in there so they'd have something to hop up on. also, i put hardware cloth around the base of the coop, and they can hop up on and over the board attached to the base of the legs when they go under there. mine are usually either under the coop scratching around, or out in the run watching for me to come bring treats! LOL they think they know exactly what it means to hear the screen door slam...

 

[7L Farm]

I have a roost in my run. The flock uses it everyday.

 

[Hhoky]

Quote:
I have to agree totally with you.

I'm currently working on a bunny playground to put in our minibarn, until I can get the run built. I got some pallets to start building it with, but hubby wants me to just make it 6x6x4 since he says the rabbits will mostly use it. The chicks run around the yard all day, so I guess that's true, but...but..bigger is better right?

Anyway, I always worry about mental stimulation and fun in my animals. I took the pallets and stacked em in an A frame and a few more in a box shape an the dogs and chicks play in, on and around em all day long. Ive even been known to go start digging holes so the dogs will take over and play for a while. I want to be able to make some pine cone bird seed things or something and hang em around to the girls to "Discover" as well. And I'm trolling craigslist hard for a big tree stump or two, I bet the girls and the bunny's would adore it if I put some nice sized hole in it.

 

[elmo]

We have roosts in our runs, but I don't consider it when thinking about how many chickens the run can hold. For that, I only count the square footage on the ground.

 

[dichotomymom]

I don't use them in my run (I have them back in the coop) because despite wrapping chicken wire over the metal of the run, predators can climb the wall of the run and grab at the chickens during the night as they roost. They may not get much but they certainly try their best.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
I don't think the suggestion was to let the chickens roost outside the coop at night. I certainly don't let them do this. But our chickens do use the roost in the run during the daytime.