Coop design question - roosts

braggsrus

Chirping
13 Years
Apr 21, 2009
10
0
75
Hello -

We are prepping for our first batch of chickens and preparing our coop - looking at the myriad of designs, etc. I have a specific question about roost placement...

Our coop is essentially a lean-to with one "solid" wall and three fenced walls. I was thinking of putting the nesting boxes against the solid wall for better warmth in the winter (in Louisiana) and putting the roosts (offset) on the fenced walls...but am concerned about predators and warmth issues being "in the open".

Will this be OK? If so, how far away from actual fence should we offset the roost? Or should we reverse and attach the nesting boxes to "exterior/fenced" wall - putting the roost(s) along the solid wall?

Also, thinking of using an old unfinished 2" round stair bannister for a roost - and maybe even ripping it in half to create 2 semi-circle roosts. Any problems with that?

Thanks so much for your feedback.
-braggsrus
 
Our coop is essentially a lean-to with one "solid" wall and three fenced walls. I was thinking of putting the nesting boxes against the solid wall for better warmth in the winter

You can certainly do that if you want but there is no need, being as the nestboxes will be plenty warm for the chickens in winter as long as they are located in Louisiana
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I'd be inclined to do it the opposite way, with the roost not being right against the mesh fenced walls, so they are not deprived of a nice place to sleep when you have a windy stormy rainy night.

how far away from actual fence should we offset the roost?

As a general rule of thumb, you do not want there to be anywhere that a chicken can sit within 1+' or so of a mesh wall (other than the ground, obviously - don't worry about that). To avoid excessively tempting the local raccoons and so forth. If you found yourself having to run the end of the roost up to butt against a mesh wall, you can put a piece of plywood there so there is plywood for a coupla feet all around the end of the roost rather than mesh. That sort of thing.

Also, thinking of using an old unfinished 2" round stair bannister for a roost - and maybe even ripping it in half to create 2 semi-circle roosts. Any problems with that?

You can do it, but it seems like a waste of a somewhat pricey item... a 2x4 with the edges rounded back a bit would work just as well
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Good luck, have fun,

Pat​
 
Don't know what part of the state you are in, but I lived in south Louisiana, mostly Metairie, for over 30 years. Your basic coop design should be fine. I'd put the roosts in the most draft-free part of the coop, thinking of the winds and horizontal rain during thunderstorms and the once every 12 years snowfall we occasionally got.
 

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