Completley Confuzzled about a roost, any help would be wonderful!!!

[AlicesSilkies]

Hi Gang!!

I made my chicken house and run, (finally yay, took me ages!) anyway, i need help with the roost,
I have 9 bantams, all different breeds, they range between 18weeks and 11 weeks..
1) what shape do i make it, i heard square...but round..
2)how high up?
3) Shall i do more than one?
4)Should i do it length ways or width ways..??

So here are some pics for you to help me...






Thanks sooo much chicken friends!!

 

[chfite]

I made a ladder styled arrangement. Using 2x4 lumber with the roosts on the flat, I spaced the roosts about 14 inches apart. The top roost is about 3 feet from the floor, 8 inches or so from the wall.

The thought was that the chickens could hop from one level to the next as desired. In fact, they all roosted on the top rung.

The width of the ladder or length of the roosting bar is about 3 feet. All the chickens eventually crowded on the one bar. 5 chickens packed together.

When we added the second coop a year later, the new chickens eventually decided to roost in the older coop with the original flock. I made another roosting bar 4 feet long spaced about 8 inches out from the wall and mounted it at the same level as the top of the original bar. After all, none was roosting elsewhere.

They all line up on the roosting bars at the top, looking out the screen, in the evenings.

I don't know if they fly up to the roosts or climb up and hop over. There are nine mature birds now. The other coop sits unused.

Chris

 

[Mahlzeit]

I use 2x2s for my roosts. I stay away from the ladder roost as they all want to be up as high as they can be when they roost. So they will all be fighting for the top rung. I a, not sure how wide your coop is. But maybe 2 bars across it for them to all fit comfortably. Big URL of thumb is always have the roosts higher than the nest boxes so they do not sleep and poop in the nests rather than the roost.