confused about height of roosting bar

[Jewelwing]

Everything I read says to put the roosting bar above the height of the nest boxes, so the ladies won't sleep (& poop!) in their nest boxes. But I wonder, does that mean above the top of the nest boxes, or just above the part they hop onto to jump into the nest boxes?

So if the bottoms of my nest boxes are 2' off the floor, and the nest boxes are about 1-1/2' high, should the roosting bar be over 3-1/2' off the floor, or does it just need to be above 2'?

My birds are going to be big & heavy, so I want to make sure they can get up to the roosting bar!

Thanks - stressing out because the chicks are more like chickens now (6 weeks), and the coop isn't done!!

 

[Judy]

It just means that the highest thing they can roost on should be the roost. If you have flat top nest boxes, then the roost should be higher than the top of the nest. Sometimes people build them with about a 45 degree angle to the top so they chickens can't stand or sit on them. There are also open top nest boxes, rather than open front. For those, only the bottom of the nest box needs to be lower than the roost.

 

[Jewelwing]

Thanks for the answer. Makes total sense.

I haven't built the nest boxes yet, but I was planning to build closed ones (if I had to lay an egg, I think I'd rather have a closed box!). But I can angle the tops, and then I could put the roosting bar lower than the tops of the boxes. Or I could let them use the tops of the nest boxes to hop onto the roosting bar, right?

I don't think I have space to add a ladder up to the roosting bar, at least not if I want to be able to walk around in the coop (6' x 6') and have a spot for their food and water too.

 

[chynasparks]

My coop is a part of one entire structure. Run on bottom coop on top with a ladder leading to it. My handy hubby built a roost poop caddy. (Think of a tote roost bar being the carrying handle). I can slide it out the access door to clean if need be. Roost is only 8 inches high. But it's higher than the nests and they use it. It has 2x2 sides 3 inches high and I know they sit on the sides to. It has a layer of sand for scooping. My tallest bird, my roo can stand up on the roost and not hit his head so, hubby did good. I've seen no signs of anyone sleeping in the nests. So you see, 8 inches isn't very high but it works in our situation.

 

[vickichicki]

Most chickens have the ability to fly up to a roost bar, with the exception of silkies ( although my silkie managed small jump/flights) so a ladder would probably not be needed. A ladder would also just be another location for them to roost on, meaning piles of poop in tougher to scoop out areas.

Even with roosting bars in one of my coops, I still often find one or two who have managed to sit on a 2x4 used for framing. The higher the better.

 

[Judy]

Yes, they could use the tops of the nests to hop onto the roost. They might or might not do this. If they do, it will get poopy. You might want to paint it with a couple good coats of gloss or semi gloss, or glue on a scrap of vinyl type flooring, just to make cleaning easier. You might even find that one chooses to sleep on the top of the nests rather than the roost.

 

[Jewelwing]

Yeah, I was going to put vinyl on top of the nest boxes. And the floor, and even the walls.

Just got my Ador1 automatic door, so I'm pretty excited about that!

My husband says I'm thinking too hard about this. He's probably right, and either what I do first works, or it won't and I'll try something else. So for now I guess I'll plan for the roosting bar to be about 3'. Although right now when the chicks aren't ready for the nest boxes, I'll have the roost lower and raise it as they grow up.

Thanks for the ideas!