Confused about roosts!

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

I think BRs are heavy but others may have a different opinion.

 

[LynneP]

You're very welcome. I was going to add that I've heard that silkies don't roost, or need special roosts- but I don;t have any so if you do, I hope the silkie owners will come in to help...

 

[Dar]

my silkies roost well kind of... they will sit on the red bricks that you can see in the pic of my roosts in clumps.. so its not a full roost but its off the ground...

and as you can see there are going to be as many answers to your questions as there are combination's possible... what it boils down to is what ever works for you and the chickens.

I loved having all my chickens at one level but they did not like it. I opted for natural branches just because I was to lazy to go back to the lumber store when we got to the roost building stage of the coop

I was lucky enough to have a large tree fall and not hit anything during a storm so I sent my DS out with the hack saw and the rules were easy.. if its straight i want it..lol and i told him about the diameter of his wrist..

 

[AtholCoop]

I've done the ladder thing, and it works just fine, but you can't control where the birds sit and what direction they poop in so as a result the lower rungs get pretty nasty with the quickness. For my latest coop I mounted a single bar to the ceiling, and I have to say everything is staying a lot cleaner.

 

[snowflake]

we have roosts that are all the same hight, about 2ft high withe a poop board, I put wood shavings on the board that makes cleaning a snap. 5 rungs for 13 birds. the hens did not like the nest box in the same room, to light I think. they kept sneaking into the storage part of the coop to lay so I moved the nest box'x in there and they are very happy ! eggs are always in the nesting box's now. ... heated water sits on cement blocks and 2feeders one hangs the other is on the floor. we use deep litter in the coop....they free range during the day but mostly stay under or very close to the coop in the winter.they don't like snow very much!

 

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

AtholCoop, please tell me a little more about this. I'm not understanding your picture. Are the chickens roosting on the bar you mounted to the ceiling?

 

[Manok-Tao]

All the posts here are stating the roosts are rather low 2-2.5'high. When researching pixs of coops on this site the percentage of the roosts I saw were somewhat higher 4-5'. Shouldn't the roost be higher at least in winter to gain warmth?
With roosts as low as 2 - 2.5 feet high isn't it a problem to keep them roosting in the nest boxes? The rule of thumb I've learned here is to keep your nest boxes 12 to 18 inches off the coop floor and to have your roosts higher than that to keep your birds from roosting in the nest box. That said I'm in the process of building a coop and will be installing the roosts in a few days, my plan is to have the roosts at 3-1/2 ft and 4'. My nest boxes are 12" off the coop floor.
Is my research wrong, please let me know asap....much appreciated.

 

[vanslam]

I used the ladder type made from 2x2s. But all my birds have decided to roost on a pole in the run even though its cold. Some birds are just weird I guess.

 

[Nava]

i have pens that are 12'by12' the hens free range 5 days out of the week,but on the days i can't let then out they need all the room they can get that is why i made it like this
nests about a foot of the ground,right above them plywood board for the poop to fall on,roosts are about a foot from the wall so the plywood board i made it around two feet so they can jump on it and then jump to the roost with out even touching the poop,unless they wonder in there but that hasn't happened yet,and is not that hard to clean the board with a good scraper i go thru all my six coops in 15 min

 

[jennh]

Hi ! I also have the "ladder-style" 2/4's. My girls seem to love it. They use the top one the most.
One hint I have--if you can, line the floor and up the wall with vinyl flooring. It makes it so much easier to keep clean, especially if your floors are wooden. I use a snow shovel to "scoop the poop".
If you have a flooring company nearby, maybe you can get scraps for free, or for next to nothing.
Also, I use cardboard boxes for nesting boxes. Then you can just throw them out or compost them when they get dirty. Of course, I use bedding in the boxes ;o)
Oh, and I have a feeder that looks like a paper hotdog holder. I have it suspended from the ceiling at the "girls" head level so they don't have to bend down to eat. (I know, they're spoiled). Also, it keeps the food off the ground in case you have a problem w/ any kind of animal, which I don't, Thank God!

Jen