how high is to high for roosts

[blueseal]

i made some new roosts today and i think i over did it. 5ft is too high they had a hard time getting up on roost tonite. so tommrow im gonna lower them down to waist level.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

It's too high if you cannot reach up to take the chickens off the roost....like mine

 

[Chicken Jack]

IMO, the bottom roost is the most important roost. Chickens need to be able to hop/fly up to this roost with out getting too egg-cited

. It will be easy for them to hop to a rung which is 24 inches from the floor and then look for their next rung 12" higher (like steps). Spacing your rungs 18 inches apart, with the next one 12" higher, so they can easily hop from lower to higher rungs until they reach their final resting perch (FRP). Then after a nights rest, they reverse the process, as they simply hop down till they get to terra firma. I don't want them stressing out cuz they have to fly/hop a great distance between rungs to get to their FRP or to the ground. Also, having rungs spaced this way, they don't pound their legs jumping/flying down as they would if your first rung is high off the ground.

Hillbilly Hen is right; you want to be able to get to them on the rungs.

I hope your modifications were successful.

 

[Tala]

Mine are 2ft and 3ft high, stair stepped of course. Everybody roosts on the higher one, and for a while the 3ft high one was all we had (only 5 birds at the time).
I like it because they are easy to just walk straight up to and doctor them as they sit there --- less need for fifteen hands if you can just kinda hug them steady while they sit on their own two feet.

Some chickens will fly up and roost in the rafters, they prefer high, but 3ft is the highest thing in my coop. Plus their wings are clipped so they really can't get any higher than that (they struggle to get higher than 3-4ft) so if you clip their wing feathers that is another thing to take into consideration.

 

[chauqg]

My birds choose to jump four feet to get on to their coop door ladder without a problem, but the problem is if the have to jump down. Possibility of hurting themselves increases with height. I have roosts 18" off the floor and that is not a problem at all. I would recommend as low as is possible to keep them from hurting their feet and legs on the way down to the floor.

 

[RedfogsFlock]

We have 3 roosts in each corner, and the bottom one is about 12 inches off the ground, the next one is about 3 foot off the ground, and the top one is 5 foot off the ground. Even our little 2 month old babies get up on the top roost. We stagger them so they can hop up and down one roost at a time. No injuries yet!

 

[Illia]

My roosts are 5 feet high and neither my roosters or hens have a hard time. . .

If I had them any lower they wouldn't be as pleased - They like it HIGH.

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

Mine is 24" off the floor it is a flat roost and they seem to very much enjoy the roost they just hop from one to another then back again till they find the one they want to roost onbut they do enjoy the hopping back and forth.

 

[blueseal]

i lowered the roosts today they are a good 3ft off the coop floor. 3 rungs 2x4s flat side down 5ft long. all the same height so they dont fight over one spot. i figured they wont hurt themselves getting down now.

 

[NewChickHere]

I actually heard it is best to have them all at the same height because it does take away the "pecking order" a bit I guess. The ones that constantly have to get the lower perch could start to get a complex.

I am putting all mine at 3' also.