designing the nest boxes and ramps.. and roosting bars

[Xanatos]

I have 4 nest boxes along the inner wall nearer the ground, and 4 above them - I haven't built 'ramps' yet, but I was wondering, can I save room by building a 'shelf' that connects all the nest boxes and only has 1 ramp, or will each nest box need a private ramp?

Also, for roosting bars, is it ok to use old roots or limbs that are sturdy? how thick can they be for a small white leghorn or medium sized plymouth barred rock? how much of it will i need?

 

[nanawendy]

Oh my golly your avatar pic is scary funny. As for your ? I have one ramp for 3 nests. But they all share one entrance. They all usually lay in one nest anyway, so I'm considering a communal nest to eliminate the jousting. Maybe I need a line leader line in grade school... "No messing around or the back of the line"

The roost ? I had to change mine our when it got cold. BYC advice... wider than branches so the girls could cover their feet @ night. But I did have branches up until then.

 

[Opa]

I use a nest box that is 3 nests wide and 2 high. The nest openingl on the lower section sits 12" from the floor and the birds have no difficulty enter them. The upper nest have a small perch in from of them. I have a ladder that goes up to the roost opposite the nests and the birds hop from it over to the upper nests perch without any difficulty.

 

[Xanatos]

Great advice, th ank you!

What about 2 by 4's?

 

[Opa]

In my large fowl coop I have 3 roost boards that are 2x4 (on the flat) 8' long. They are mounted 12" apart and 12" from the wall. I constucted two 4'x4' trays using RFP(a plastic wall panel from Home Depot $26) and 1x2. These are suspended with hooks and light weight chain 6" beneath the roosts. I scrape them off every 2 or 3 days and have probably elimated 85% of the dropping from the floor.

 

[newchicksnducks]

How many birds do you plan to have? I planned my roosts giving the chickens 12 inches per bird. I originally had 15 chickens and used two 2x4, 4" side flat, each 8' long. They were 36" and 48" off the ground. My nest boxes were on the opposite wall, two rows again. The bottom row was 18" off the ground with the other row directly above the first. Although we put a ramp to the roosts, the girls never use it and instead just hop/flap their way to the dropping board (32" up) and then onto the roosts. I have no ramp to the nesting boxes, they just hop on up. Here is a picture of my setup:

Hope this gives you some ideas!