How far should the roosting bar be from the wall?

[amberflea]

Trying to get an idea of what I need to change in my coop for my trio of Peas I'm getting. The roosting bar is a nice rounded edged 2x4 about 4 ft high, but I'm sure I need to move it out from the wall for the Cocks train, how far? I'm thinking 30" or needn't it be that far?

Also, do you agree that not putting a roost out in the Aviary will help them go back in the coop during bad weather?

 

[Garden Peas]

Mine is a little closer (my peashed isn't very big), but my boys roost with their tails away from the wall, then do a walk and turn getting back down. Make sure that there is sufficient room in front (the side away from the wall) for them to take off and fly up, and to hop down later. They jump well, but are not helicopters. (Though they can go up pretty vertically when spooked

)

Make sure that your 2x4 is set so that the wide side is flat, not the skinny side. You want them to be able to cover their feet with their feathers when they sleep, particularly if you do not have heat. I covered mine with carpet, which is nice for helping feet stay warm and avoiding splinters and foot injuries. Some people use 2x6s for perches for their peas, to accommodate those big, long, pea toes

Post pictures when you can ... we love pictures

Oh yeah, and I would put a roost in the aviary, just for the enjoyment they get out of it all year long. A light on in the evening will usually draw them in at dusk. There's the occasional stubborn pea who wants to stay outside, but all mine head for the light as soon as it gets reasonably dark.

 

[amberflea]

Thank you, I will put carpet on the roost bar and put one in the aviary, pretty much set then. Picking them up Sunday

 

[barkerg]

Mine is a little closer (my peashed isn't very big), but my boys roost with their tails away from the wall, then do a walk and turn getting back down.  Make sure that there is sufficient room in front (the side away from the wall) for them to take off and fly up, and to hop down later.  They jump well, but are not helicopters.  (Though they can go up pretty vertically when spooked )

Make sure that your 2x4 is set so that the wide side is flat, not the skinny side.  You want them to be able to cover their feet with their feathers when they sleep, particularly if you do not have heat.  I covered mine with carpet, which is nice for helping feet stay warm and avoiding splinters and foot injuries.  Some people use 2x6s for perches for their peas, to accommodate those big, long, pea toes

Post pictures when you can ... we love pictures

Oh yeah, and I would put a roost in the aviary, just for the enjoyment they get out of it all year long.  A light on in the evening will usually draw them in at dusk.  There's the occasional stubborn pea who wants to stay outside, but all mine head for the light as soon as it gets reasonably dark.

Keep an eye on the carpet, I had a friend who put carpet on his perches and unfortunatley it was the wrong type and just like the infamous strings from the feed bags he (Peacock) got tied up in it and choked himself out, he was found dead on the floor. Make sure its outdoor carpet and cant tear and run is the moral of the story. Just fyi as Murphys law is always in full effect.

ps: If I failed to mention, I hate feed bag strings, they are deadly.

Gerald Barker

 

[Garden Peas]

Keep an eye on the carpet, I had a friend who put carpet on his perches and unfortunatley it was the wrong type and just like the infamous strings from the feed bags he (Peacock) got tied up in it and choked himself out, he was found dead on the floor. Make sure its outdoor carpet and cant tear and run is the moral of the story. Just fyi as Murphys law is always in full effect.

ps: If I failed to mention, I hate feed bag strings, they are deadly.

Gerald Barker

x2 @barkerg , you are completely correct. Unraveling carpet looks close enough to worms and caterpillars that I am convinced any normal pea would try swallow it.

Or get their big pea toes caught in the loops as it comes loose. Or find some other way to get hurt that I haven't thought of yet.

Let me share my totally neurotic method of carpeting a perch --

1. Carpet selection. I'm not a fan of outdoor carpet. I think it's too rough and scratchy and I don't trust it. But many people prefer it for this. Instead, I got some closed loop (like commercial carpet) in a precut section -- they are in various sizes rolled in bins at the big box home improvement stores. I looked for durable stuff that would provide a little insulation and couldn't easily be plucked apart. I avoided cut pile like the plague.

2. Preparation. I cut my 2x4 to the correct length and checked it for splintery ends. I made sure the carpet width (longest side ok too!) would cover the length of board. (You can do several perches with one piece of carpet!) I rounded up a very large bottle of outdoor (waterproof) construction glue (Gorilla Glue or Elmers, just needs to be waterproof when fully dry, so it won't melt onto pea feet), the staple gun with lots of staples, the hammer, the razor (box) knife, and an assistant.

3. Assembly. Starting on what will be the BOTTOM of the perch, in the MIDDLE of the bottom, I liberally applied lots of glue on one half of the bottom of the board. Then (having an assistant is handy here), I laid one side of the carpet to the middle of the bottom, smack dab into the glue. Staple that edge down like the peas' lives depend on it. If there's a bound carpet edge, it's nice to use it. Take the hammer and smash down all the staples so they are really down into the carpet and board. We do not want our peas catching their feet on staples or eating stray ones they find in the bedding. Now glue the skinny side, the top (flat) side and the far skinny side, pulling the carpet as firmly as you can and gluing the daylights out of it. More glue is better! Don't worry, it will dry eventually.... When you get back to the starting point in the middle of the bottom flat side, staple the carpet and trim it with the box knife to meet the first part. More staples, and don't forget to smash them with the hammer. (If a staple is bent or flattened and doesn't go in all the way, pull it out with a pair of needlenose pliers and discard it someplace safe. Don't drop it in the dirt where a pea could find it!!!! Make sure that edge (and any cut edge) is really secure. NOTE: NO STAPLES on the sides or top of the board -- I'm a little OCD about it, but I just don't think pea toes and metal staples are supposed to go together.

The first time I did one, I actually went halfway around with the glue (glue as far as the top of the board) and I weighted it down to make sure the carpet was thoroughly embedded in the glue. Then I left it overnight to dry before I went the rest of the way around. You can get it slightly tighter if you do that.

4. QA -- after the glue has had a chance to totally dry, carefully inspect for loose bits of carpet fiber, dangling or loose staples (on the BOTTOM!!!), or any spots that might not have been fully drowned in glue. Check for frayed edges at the sides of the carpet. Ask yourself, does this look like a fuzzy, tasty caterpillar? Could a silly pea try to eat it? Err on the side of fixing it, lol. Check to make sure there's no sticky glue anywhere. I don't think glue and pea toes go together any better than staples and pea toes...

5. Mount the perch -- only AFTER the glue has totally dried.

6. Admire your work, and tell your peas how lucky they are to live with you.

P.S. Please, please don't make me reiterate the whole "why heated perches can be dangerous" discussion. There's an old thread that has the pictures of the permanently crippled feet. Yes, I know some people use them. But they can be very dangerous. With a good, WIDE, safely carpeted perch of wood and fluffy pea feathers, the toes should stay safe without added heat. If the perch is too narrow, and toes are wrapped down the sides, they don't stay as warm.

Okay @barkerg , back to you

 

[barkerg]

x2  @barkerg
, you are completely correct.  Unraveling carpet looks close enough to worms and caterpillars that I am convinced any normal pea would try swallow it.     Or get their big pea toes caught in the loops as it comes loose.  Or find some other way to get hurt that I haven't thought of yet.

Let me share my totally neurotic method of carpeting a perch --

1.  Carpet selection.  I'm not a fan of outdoor carpet.  I think it's too rough and scratchy and I don't trust it.  But many people prefer it for this.  Instead, I got some closed loop (like commercial carpet) in a precut section -- they are in various sizes rolled in bins at the big box home improvement stores.  I looked for durable stuff that would provide a little insulation and couldn't easily be plucked apart.  I avoided cut pile like the plague. 

2.  Preparation.  I cut my 2x4 to the correct length and checked it for splintery ends.  I made sure the carpet width (longest side ok too!) would cover the length of board.  (You can do several perches with one piece of carpet!)   I rounded up a very large bottle of outdoor (waterproof) construction glue (Gorilla Glue or Elmers, just needs to be waterproof when fully dry, so it won't melt onto pea feet), the staple gun with lots of staples, the hammer, the razor (box) knife, and an assistant.

3.  Assembly.  Starting on what will be the BOTTOM of the perch, in the MIDDLE of the bottom, I liberally applied lots of glue on one half of the bottom of the board.  Then (having an assistant is handy here), I laid one side of the carpet to the middle of the bottom, smack dab into the glue.  Staple that edge down like the peas' lives depend on it.  If there's a bound carpet edge, it's nice to use it.  Take the hammer and smash down all the staples so they are really down into the carpet and board.  We do not want our peas catching their feet on staples or eating stray ones they find in the bedding.  Now glue the skinny side, the top (flat) side and the far skinny side, pulling the carpet as firmly as you can and gluing the daylights out of it.  More glue is better!  Don't worry, it will dry eventually....  When you get back to the starting point in the middle of the bottom flat side, staple the carpet and trim it with the box knife to meet the first part.  More staples, and don't forget to smash them with the hammer.  (If a staple is bent or flattened and doesn't go in all the way, pull it out with a pair of needlenose pliers and discard it someplace safe.  Don't drop it in the dirt where a pea could find it!!!!  Make sure that edge (and any cut edge) is really secure.  NOTE: NO STAPLES on the sides or top of the board -- I'm a little OCD about it, but I just don't think pea toes and metal staples are supposed to go together.

The first time I did one, I actually went halfway around with the glue (glue as far as the top of the board) and I weighted it down to make sure the carpet was thoroughly embedded in the glue.  Then I left it overnight to dry before I went the rest of the way around.  You can get it slightly tighter if you do that.

4.  QA -- after the glue has had a chance to totally dry, carefully inspect for loose bits of carpet fiber, dangling or loose staples (on the BOTTOM!!!), or any spots that might not have been fully drowned in glue.  Check for frayed edges at the sides of the carpet.  Ask yourself, does this look like a fuzzy, tasty caterpillar?  Could a silly pea try to eat it?  Err on the side of fixing it, lol.  Check to make sure there's no sticky glue anywhere.  I don't think glue and pea toes go together any better than staples and pea toes...

5.  Mount the perch -- only AFTER the glue has totally dried.

6.  Admire your work, and tell your peas how lucky they are to live with you. 

P.S.  Please, please don't make me reiterate the whole "why heated perches can be dangerous" discussion.  There's an old thread that has the pictures of the permanently crippled feet.  Yes, I know some people use them.  But they can be very dangerous.  With a good, WIDE, safely carpeted perch of wood and fluffy pea feathers, the toes should stay safe without added heat.  If the perch is too narrow, and toes are wrapped down the sides, they don't stay as warm.

Okay @barkerg
, back to you

I surrender, thats how its done the right way garden peas. In fact, Im so impressed I might contact you in the future to guide me through the same procedure on my bass boat trailer bunks. Very nice indeed, Thank you for sharing.

Gerald Barker

 

[Garden Peas]

... I might contact you in the future to guide me through the same procedure on my bass boat trailer bunks.

Barker egg's peas go FISHIN'

My hat's off to you, @barkerg -- those are some seriously spoiled peas

 

[Birdrain92]

Trying to get an idea of what I need to change in my coop for my trio of Peas I'm getting. The roosting bar is a nice rounded edged 2x4 about 4 ft high, but I'm sure I need to move it out from the wall for the Cocks train, how far? I'm thinking 30" or needn't it be that far?

Also, do you agree that not putting a roost out in the Aviary will help them go back in the coop during bad weather?

I just want to chime in though you've gotten some great answers already. In my opinion I would rather make the roost at least 6' long that way the peacock isn't always bending his train up against the wall. Other thing and this is just from my experience, I would keep the perch 6' in the air. I know not everyone can, but if you can I advise it. The reason why is because I've noticed just about all of the end train feathers on my adult Indian Blue, the tips of his end train feathers get broke. My hen sometimes gets off the roost in the morning before he does and she'll sometimes step on the train and he then panics and does it little hop up and snap go feathers. They don't pull out just get broken off. His train this year I measured at 5.5' long and my roost is only 4' high. Again you don't have to do what I said it's just my opinion. In the future I'm going to make sure that my roosts are 7' off the ground to prevent that.

 

[casportpony]

Keep an eye on the carpet, I had a friend who put carpet on his perches and unfortunatley it was the wrong type and just like the infamous strings from the feed bags he (Peacock) got tied up in it and choked himself out, he was found dead on the floor. Make sure its outdoor carpet and cant tear and run is the moral of the story. Just fyi as Murphys law is always in full effect.


ps: If I failed to mention, I hate feed bag strings, they are deadly.


Gerald Barker

x2  @barkerg
, you are completely correct.  Unraveling carpet looks close enough to worms and caterpillars that I am convinced any normal pea would try swallow it.     Or get their big pea toes caught in the loops as it comes loose.  Or find some other way to get hurt that I haven't thought of yet.

Let me share my totally neurotic method of carpeting a perch --

1.  Carpet selection.  I'm not a fan of outdoor carpet.  I think it's too rough and scratchy and I don't trust it.  But many people prefer it for this.  Instead, I got some closed loop (like commercial carpet) in a precut section -- they are in various sizes rolled in bins at the big box home improvement stores.  I looked for durable stuff that would provide a little insulation and couldn't easily be plucked apart.  I avoided cut pile like the plague. 

2.  Preparation.  I cut my 2x4 to the correct length and checked it for splintery ends.  I made sure the carpet width (longest side ok too!) would cover the length of board.  (You can do several perches with one piece of carpet!)   I rounded up a very large bottle of outdoor (waterproof) construction glue (Gorilla Glue or Elmers, just needs to be waterproof when fully dry, so it won't melt onto pea feet), the staple gun with lots of staples, the hammer, the razor (box) knife, and an assistant.

3.  Assembly.  Starting on what will be the BOTTOM of the perch, in the MIDDLE of the bottom, I liberally applied lots of glue on one half of the bottom of the board.  Then (having an assistant is handy here), I laid one side of the carpet to the middle of the bottom, smack dab into the glue.  Staple that edge down like the peas' lives depend on it.  If there's a bound carpet edge, it's nice to use it.  Take the hammer and smash down all the staples so they are really down into the carpet and board.  We do not want our peas catching their feet on staples or eating stray ones they find in the bedding.  Now glue the skinny side, the top (flat) side and the far skinny side, pulling the carpet as firmly as you can and gluing the daylights out of it.  More glue is better!  Don't worry, it will dry eventually....  When you get back to the starting point in the middle of the bottom flat side, staple the carpet and trim it with the box knife to meet the first part.  More staples, and don't forget to smash them with the hammer.  (If a staple is bent or flattened and doesn't go in all the way, pull it out with a pair of needlenose pliers and discard it someplace safe.  Don't drop it in the dirt where a pea could find it!!!!  Make sure that edge (and any cut edge) is really secure.  NOTE: NO STAPLES on the sides or top of the board -- I'm a little OCD about it, but I just don't think pea toes and metal staples are supposed to go together.

The first time I did one, I actually went halfway around with the glue (glue as far as the top of the board) and I weighted it down to make sure the carpet was thoroughly embedded in the glue.  Then I left it overnight to dry before I went the rest of the way around.  You can get it slightly tighter if you do that.

4.  QA -- after the glue has had a chance to totally dry, carefully inspect for loose bits of carpet fiber, dangling or loose staples (on the BOTTOM!!!), or any spots that might not have been fully drowned in glue.  Check for frayed edges at the sides of the carpet.  Ask yourself, does this look like a fuzzy, tasty caterpillar?  Could a silly pea try to eat it?  Err on the side of fixing it, lol.  Check to make sure there's no sticky glue anywhere.  I don't think glue and pea toes go together any better than staples and pea toes...

5.  Mount the perch -- only AFTER the glue has totally dried.

6.  Admire your work, and tell your peas how lucky they are to live with you. 

P.S.  Please, please don't make me reiterate the whole "why heated perches can be dangerous" discussion.  There's an old thread that has the pictures of the permanently crippled feet.  Yes, I know some people use them.  But they can be very dangerous.  With a good, WIDE, safely carpeted perch of wood and fluffy pea feathers, the toes should stay safe without added heat.  If the perch is too narrow, and toes are wrapped down the sides, they don't stay as warm.

Okay @barkerg
, back to you

You need to enter this post the one of the article writing contests!

-Kathy