Chickens roosting on poop board instead of roost & getting pooped on

[Cchurchill91]

My buff rooster and two hens are sleeping on the edge of the poop board directly under where my other hens roost. They’re getting pooped on. I’ve picked them up and put them on the roost multiple times but they’re uncomfortable using it. My other buff hen roosts and my four other hens roost with her. There’s ample space for them and two width options. I thought maybe they needed a wide log being heavy set birds so I put one in but no luck. I attached pics. Tried to get one of the poop on my hens back. Not sure what to do about that either. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

 

[Kiki]

You could lower the roost to try to block the area where the others are sleeping.

 

[Panhandler80]

Maybe lower the poop to just barely off the floor. They roost not in order to be on a log, or a board, etc. They do so to get higher than the immediate area. That poop board is serving as a roost. Get it low, and then run one roosting bar about half way up the height of the wall (and either way shorter or longer than the other one) and then the next one a bit higher. Run your ramps to the first roosting bar.

Because the two bars are different length, they will be staggered and nobody will poop on the each other while on the roost. They can take ramp to first one, and then hop to next one. Although truthfully, they can probably fly to either. With the poop board being that low, and two perch options significantly higher, I suspect they will opt to roost properly.

Like this, more or less...

 

[Cchurchill91]

You could lower the roost to try to block the area where the others are sleeping.

That would be a simple solution. Will be trying. Thanks for your help!

 

[Panhandler80]

Excellent idea. I was wondering if the poop board was too high. Thank you very much for your help.

First time chicken owner here, so certainly not gospel. Theory makes sense, though. FWIW, I started with 21 pullets in an 8 x 8 coop (really on the cusp of too small) with external nesting boxes and 24 hr access to run. So far zero bullying, all but four eggs have been in boxes, and all roost as they should every night... so I must be doing something right! Or just got really lucky!

 

[aart]

I attached pics.

Red flag on the ramps, they look like toe breakers.
Do they actually use them?

The roost and board look fine.
The added second roost looks too close to the first, how far away is it?
My birds often sleep on the edge or flat of board.
Yeah, sometimes they get pooped on but it's not an issue unless it's really juicy one...even they they can clean themselves off.

Length of roost cannot fully be used because of the angle near the walls....
.. so wonder how long is roost and how many birds?

 

[Cchurchill91]

Red flag on the ramps, they look like toe breakers.
Do they actually use them?

The roost and board look fine.
The added second roost looks too close to the first, how far away is it?
My birds often sleep on the edge or flat of board.
Yeah, sometimes they get pooped on but it's not an issue unless it's really juicy one...even they they can clean themselves off.

Length of roost cannot fully be used because of the angle near the walls....
.. so wonder how long is roost and how many birds?

Never thought of those ramps as toe breakers but now that you mention it I could see how that could be a risk. They all use them with no problem yet but they were only supposed to be a temporary solution for our lack of wood at the time as we normally use them for non chicken purposes.

The length of the front roost is 113 inches and the back is 78. The space between them is 19 inches. We have 8 hens and one rooster. We are currently extending the front of the poop board so that if they still decide to roost off the front as they have been they won’t get pooped on as much. The ones who actually do use the roosts all face forwards so their poop goes to the back.

Trying to decide if we should lower the front roost now that there’s going to be more of a ledge in the front to help them get up. Posted a pic of the progress. About to add side ledges, bottom supports, sand to the front and a ramp. Always appreciate your help. Thanks.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Since you already us the natural wood for the roosts, I’ve seen people make a ramp out of branches.

 

[aart]

Never thought of those ramps as toe breakers but now that you mention it I could see how that could be a risk. They all use them with no problem yet but they were only supposed to be a temporary solution for our lack of wood at the time as we normally use them for non chicken purposes.

The length of the front roost is 113 inches and the back is 78. The space between them is 19 inches. We have 8 hens and one rooster. We are currently extending the front of the poop board so that if they still decide to roost off the front as they have been they won’t get pooped on as much. The ones who actually do use the roosts all face forwards so their poop goes to the back.

Trying to decide if we should lower the front roost now that there’s going to be more of a ledge in the front to help them get up. Posted a pic of the progress. About to add side ledges, bottom supports, sand to the front and a ramp. Always appreciate your help. Thanks.

I don't think you need to lower the roosts.
19" between is good, better to leave them at the same level.
If your coop is big enough to fly down without crashing you may not even needs those ramps.
Board looks to be about 3' high? They can fly up there easy.
Not sure how the front extension of board will help, but maybe it will.

 

[Hidrainja4]

Maybe the other hens are keeping them from joining them and they settle for a lower position. I had to put them up on the roost for two months before the issue was settled. My husband came up with the idea of two ladders instead of one. Yep, with one ladder a chicken would block the way and keep the others from coming up.