First time building coop run and roost!

[RedReiner]

I had an old shed next to my small barn, and when I decided to get some chickens I figured a covered run off the side of that shed would be just fine, so got My brother and my son to put together a run one day in the pouring down rain. got my chickens, they arent old enough to lay yet. but where to put some roost boards?? made a small one as a temp, then the snow came and the wind and I felt bad for them. wrapped their run with tarps to keep the wind and snow out and decided to make a roost inside the shed. I had added a nest box just before it snowed....they slept in the nest box until the snow went away lol. anyway, pics and progress! almost done!

the run, plywood roof with metal sheeting on top

made me a nice door too, lockable

the nest box that I added

Making an indoor roost now so they can get out of the weather and away from predators at night

I had this little table that was gonna get burned but I decided to use it as a nest box in the roost. only had to plywood one side and I will add a lip to the front of each opening. can also support roost boards.

oh yeah, the big dog crate is chicken jail for Piggy...being to mean to my new hen. she spent a day in there and is a lot nicer now lol

 

[RedReiner]

I do have a question though, how far out from the wall should the Roost boards be? I would like to leave the middle open so I can go in and clean. so how much space should I leave?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The chickens will tell you. I've had roost as close as 6 inches and they just sat sideways. 12" is plenty, thier butts hang over more and usually like to roost with back to the wall.

 

[MamaChic21]

You guys did a great job. You have everything they need. As for the roosting bar, I made a small ladder and nailed 4 legs underneath, and you got yourself a roosting bar

 

[Nostalchic]

Far enough so that their tails don't hit or rub the wall, which can make them look raggedy - also so that poop doesn't hit or splatter on the wall which is harder to clean up than poop that hits the floor. It depends on the size of your chickens, but I would put your biggest chicken up there and see how far that needs to be. I initially had mine too close, and eventually moved them out to 16 or 18 inches from the wall, and it's a much better situation if you have the room. If the coop is too small for them to fly up from the floor to the roost (they need a little space - they're not helicopters, as one of our members pointed out) that can be the other issue in moving the roost out from the wall.

 

[RedReiner]

some pretty good sized Orpingtons, I will have to bring one in and set her down and see where her butt goes. I like to build little ramps and stuff so I will have those low roost bars and some up higher with ramps to them. not over the lower ones of course. dont want the underlings to get pooped on all night lol. I plan to start the ramps from the top of that green table so they cant sit on it and poop all night. I only have hens for now, just want eggs, later I might add a rooster, but for now I am happy with the orp girls.

 

[henney penny]

DH make ours like a ladder with big dowels and he put poop boards under them to collect the poop and I clean them out everyday and it cuts down on the smell in the winter time when its closed up.

 

[RedReiner]

I like the ladder type stagger on those, lots of room in there too!! I didnt quite get mine all the way finished but got the other half to cut the hole in the wall and I wired most of it up. have to make the door tomorrow but they all got to come inside to roost tonight!!!!!

The other half went out in the run and shoved them thru the hole in the wall and they came in squawking and froze, then miss piggy eyed the 2x4 roosts and hopped up and the rest followed her, well I helped two of them up. I am happy though as its been really windy and now raining so they get to be in out of the weather

 

[Kat's Silly Chickens]

We did a quick horse barn/storage unit convert into a coop for our chickens, and they go in every evening before I go out to close the coop door. Yours looks great so far, keep up the good work and your chicken will love you for it.
You can see the early stage of our coop on my 'My Page'.

 

[bonder]

My roost has lots of boards for the chickens but they all crowd up to the top 2. The chicken house and roost was here when I moved in, so it's hard to describe BUT... They basically took 3 really sturdy boards (like 2 by 12's), hung them perpendicular to the wall and notched out spaces equal distances down so 1 by 2's can lay cross wise (parallel to the wall). The 1 x 2s are about 1-2 feet apart. the 2 x 12s are attached to one another by a few boards on the bottom (maybe 2 or 3). (CONFUSED YET?)
I'm attaching a pic of the chicken house when we first got it. The roost is on the right (it's falling apart a bit in the pic)

Anyway, here's the cool part: the entire roost lifts up and hooks to the ceiling with a hook so I can clean the poop boards underneath with out much work. (except trying to lift the roost- a pulley system or a strong helper would make it easier)
If you were looking for an easy way to clean the poop boards, this is it!