How many chickens per roost

[Beth K.]

All 17 of my birds roost on the top roost. I think it's ~8 ft. They're only 4 months old but they are pretty large. (Australorps, Orpingtons, & Plymouth Rocks)

 

[TDM]

Beth K. :

All 17 of my birds roost on the top roost. I think it's ~8 ft. They're only 4 months old but they are pretty large. (Australorps, Orpingtons, & Plymouth Rocks)

I'll get up to 14 birds on a 7 1/2 foot roost. An identical roost behind that group may have three or four huddled in a corner. I seem to have a group that loves to sleep all huddled together on top of my flat topped nest boxes.​

 

[<3 N.C Chicken Chick <3]

so I cut the roost today. Theres going to be 3 4.5 foot roost, with the big side up. The top one is a little close to the vent

I hope it will be ok. All togeather thats 13.5 feet of roost.

Thanks soo much for all the help.

 

[Dirtyhip]

Mine sleep all huddled together like so:

They love their coop.

 

[<3 N.C Chicken Chick <3]

Awww

 

[reksat]

Mine coop has 2, 5ft roosts for 8 RIR and they all cram together on the top.

 

[cmom]

I have 4-8ft. roosts in one coop, 4-6ft. roosts in another coop and 3-8ft. roosts in another coop and they all seem to want to roost in the same spot even though they have plenty of roost space.

 

[naturespace]

Material for roosts

I've read lots about roosts, but i'm not sure what is the best material to use for standard size chickens and guineas. I have used 2x4s with the wide side as the roost. it seemed to work fine, but when one of my girls had bumblefoot, the dr. said they should have something more narrow for them to grip. (not sure how this pertained to the bumblefoot, but he said it so i thought i would throw it out there.)

i've seen closet rod, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4... some with rounded edges and some turned so the pointy edge is up. we are about to build a new coop so, what is the best solution?

 

[TDM]

Quote:
I use the narrow side for my birds to roost on, but I also did that because the 2" x 4" are structural members in my mobile hen houses. The birds settle down and their feathers cover their feet completely as you can see in the pictures. A couple birds even likes to roost on electrical wire. So, welcome to mythbusters.

 

[cmom]

I use 2 x 4's too with the wide side up. The first pic was taken when this coop was new.