I need chicken house tips

[mschickiemama]

Hi guys,

I could use some advice on the current chicken house. I only have one chicken right now so it doesn't get too messy, but she sleeps in the nesting box (they are removable for cleaning), and I feel like the roosts are at weird heights. One is low and the other is really high. I don't know exactly how that could be altered though. Not much space to change anything. I'm not sure why she sleeps in the nesting box instead of roosting. Maybe it's more comfy. The roost is skinnier than the one at our old house. I have to clean the poop out of the box daily so she's not laying on it. Sometimes she uses the top roost in the morning if I don't come out right away (It's so high I was surprised she got up there). She also has sometimes laid in the corner of the house in the morning hence why the bedding looks more shallow on one end.

Here are some pics. I'm open to suggestions. Thanks.

 

[Yakisugi Coop]

I’d recommend removing the lower roost and lowering the upper one, as well as getting more chickens. They’re social creatures and she’s probably feeling lonely.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. Where, in general, are you located? Climate matters, especially when designing a coop.

I'm impressed by how much ventilation there is. It should be airy and comfortable, rather than over-heated and stuffy like so many coops.

I agree about removing the low roost, which is lower than the boxes, and lowering the upper roost, which might be uncomfortably drafty. But you may have to train your chicken to use the roost since she's not in the habit.

Since you have many more nestboxes than are needed for the number of chickens that coop would hold, you could provide a solid surface to anchor the lowered roost to by blocking up a box on each side with a piece of plywood and attaching the roost to that plywood. Then you could use the blocked boxes for storage.

 

[21hens-incharge]

That upper roost is also super close to the wall so ineffective and unusable as there is no space for the tail or head between it and a wall.

It needs to be at least 8" from the wall but more would be better.

 

[Percheron chick]

2x2 can be harder to balance on. Replace the upper roost with a 2x4. The upper roost is less than 2' off the ground but she still needs 3' to fly down. Looks kind of tight on space. She might be crashing into the wall when she gets down. You really don't have anywhere to move the roost to lower it. You can try a ladder roost instead.