Full Sized Cochin Comfort Questions...

[Texas Fluffy Feet]

We will be building our coop for a group of all standard sized Cochins. I was wondering, since they will be such nice round ladies when they grow up if they would be more comfortable with lower nesting boxes and roosts. I read somewhere that the heavy breeds don't tend to try to fly up to much so I was wondering if lower was better and if so how low should we go? Nest boxes on the floor of the coop? Roosts 18" maybe? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[ChicknThief]

We have a cochin that will not fly up to the nesting boxes to lay at all. She never has. The boxes are about 2.5 feet off of the coop floor. She just lays on the ground behind a tree instead.

 

[MandyH]

My cochin roosts are waist high on me because I built them. I am only 5'5" tall so that's probably 2 1/2 feet up. My nest boxes are 55 gallon drums cut in half shortways and the open end up. I fill them about 3/4 full of hay and they hop on in and lay away.

 

[Texas Fluffy Feet]

Thanks for the responses. This helps me quite a bit!

 

[featherfooted]

My nest boxes for my Cochins and Brahmas are about 18" off the ground. I worry more about them landing to hard and hurting their feet. This height seems to work well.

 

[CarriBrown]

My bantam cochins like to fly up, but the standards seem to take the ladder instead.