Do chickens really want perches in the run?

[DIY Poultry]

Are the chickens going to use perches that I was planning on putting up in the run? Do your chickens enjoy/use roosts/perches in your run area? Or should I just put a area of leaves and a dust box? I would love to know what people have found that their chickens love to use in their runs.

 

[DIY Poultry]

Are the chickens going to use perches that I was planning on putting up in the run? Do your chickens enjoy/use roosts/perches in your run area? Or should I just put a area of leaves and a dust box? I would love to know what people have found that their chickens love to use in their runs.

We recently put 2 perches in our run but they are both lower than the perches in our coop. The chickens seem to enjoy playing flying games off of them.

 

[Mouthpear]

Are the chickens going to use perches that I was planning on putting up in the run? Do your chickens enjoy/use roosts/perches in your run area? Or should I just put a area of leaves and a dust box? I would love to know what people have found that their chickens love to use in their runs.

Mine love having a multiple of choices to roost outside in the run. Swings, straight bars, branaches, teeters and tires.

 

[mossyoakpro]

I have one I repurposed from a display that they seem to love...that's where they are every morning when I go out to let them out for the day. After they go out they scratch around for a few minutes then they go to "base" as I started calling it which is a huge cedar tree in my backyard with limbs all the way to the ground so they are staggered from the ground to about half way up. When they come down they just hop from limb to limb like a ladder then jump on the ground. I had an old wooden picnic table that I was gonna rehab but I decided to put that under their cedar tree so that becomes the napping spot if they don't get on the limbs of the tree.

They are shaded and ultra safe from predators while on base so it's a win win....

 

[Sally PB]

Perches make use of vertical space in a run, adding "places where chickens can be" without having to make the run larger.

One thing to keep in mind: The higher the perch, the more horizontal space the chicken needs to come down. If they can't jump down, they need gliding space to come down at about a 45 degree angle.

Also, they need a soft landing spot. Jumping down can be hard on their feet, legs, and joints.