Increasing flock, question about roosts

[igorsMistress]

Instead of building what many consider a minimal sized coop for that number, especially in your climate where they might be stuck in there for extended periods of time, I suggest building bigger. A 6x12 would give them a lot more room to get down and make it easier for you to work in there. I don't know what style coop you plan, especially for the roof. Most standard building materials come in 4' and 8' dimensions so those are usually convenient to work with, but the cutoffs can often be used to build nests or such. You always want a roof to slope enough so water runs off instead of stands and in Massachusetts you want it strong enough to support snow and ice. A 6' width isn't bad for that, depending some on roof style. I also like overhangs which gives you an easy way to add ventilation up high without letting in rain and snow.

As long as the roosts are higher than anything you don't want them sleeping on you can make them any height you wish. As for the difference between the roosts and your droppings tray, you need enough room to be able to clean it. Since the droppings board/tray should stick out about a foot past the roosts they can use that as a step to get to the roosts.

I've seen baby chicks less than a week old and before they have wing feathers to fly jump up about a foot when the broody hen told them to. Many people would be surprised at how well older chickens can jump when they want to. Mine always spread their wings when they jump up or down and usually flap if it's very far so they need room for that. They fly up and they fly down, flying down breaks their fall. It's not like you jumping, you don't have wings.

You can build ramps, ladders, or steps. The edge of your dropping tray can be considered a step they can use if they want to. I did not provide anything specifically for mine to use to get to these 5' high roosts. I've seen an adult dual purpose rooster probably close to the size of your Brahma launch from this roost, fly forward about 7', turn 90 degrees to the left, fly out of the coop human door, and land in the run. My smaller hens do that regularly. They are not that helpless, but they do need room. I think making your coop at least 6' wide will pay big dividends for you in many ways.

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I totally agree. My coop is 8x12 with plenty of litter on the coop floor for a soft landing; they use all of that space to hop/fly off the roost. If the big door is open some will fly out the door.

 

[Chickiechickieboomboom]

Thanks for all the advice! I am feeling very uncertain about my plan now maybe I will wait another year or two to expand my flock. I thought I had a solid plan but now I feel like it is a very flawed plan and I need to rethink the whole thing!

 

[Mrs. K]

As the OP also referred to cost, instead of sticking to the idea of 12 birds. It might be best to look around. Often times on various social media posts - sheds are sold for considerable less than building from scratch, and a lick of paint can make them quite respectable.

Then measure, indicate the door, and I bet we can come up with creative ways to get a good flock into it. Might be 8, might be 10, might be 14.... my point is, the happiest of flocks is the best flock to be around, exact measurements don't alway have to be met exactly.... and sometimes it is a starting point that is messing up the whole idea, the idea of 12 birds.

Often times filling a coop to the max is not a good idea either, (says the lady who is planning right now on doing exactly that) but it is better to have a multi-generational flock, whereas birds are added and lost from the flock each year.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

My sequencing on how to stack a coop is pretty similar to Aart's but I don't go by specific distances.

Nor did I......wiggleword 'about' used on about every number

 

[wyoDreamer]

Is it possible to put roosts across your coop instead of the long way. not sure if 2 4' roosts would make the birds happy, but 3 roosts would. Maybe make a ladder of the roosts so they can hop up from the lower ones to the higher ones.
10' for 12 birds may not be enough length.

 

[Acre4Me]

Good advice above.
The only comments I’ll add are the fact that a 4’ wide coop will create an issue you aren’t aware of yet...pecking order and submission/respect to those higher. A lower pecking order chicken needs to give a higher chicken the space they demand! So, they need to be able to avoid that higher pecking order bird with more space than 4’ would allow. If higher pecking order bird is in the middle of that 4’ width space, then the higher chicken is able to harass or reprimand the lower chicken very easily...the lower one can’t properly respect the other one’s space. So, even if you gave more space in the form of length, you could potentially have problems with the width. Certainly depends on temperaments, too.

Roost height: we have some large BJG, it is a good thing we have a ladder roost system, with the lowest roost about 12” above the ground. They do roost high, but step down the ladder to get off the lower roost. The others will fly down or jump down, but the heavy breeds do need some way to get closer to the ground before getting off.

it is exciting to plan for a new/improved coop, so keep going with the planning!

 

[aart]

Thanks for all the advice! I am feeling very uncertain about my plan now maybe I will wait another year or two to expand my flock. I thought I had a solid plan but now I feel like it is a very flawed plan and I need to rethink the whole thing!

There's a lot to learn, and building that you won't have to re-do for years takes a lot of research/planning/building time. I spent about 6 months reading and planning and an entire summer building.

 

[rosemarythyme]

However you end up deciding to build, figure 12" roost per bird (some say 10", some say 14-16", so 12" is a good in between). And roosts don't need to be high per se, just higher than nest boxes. Also realistically most of them will not use ramps or ladders to get down (and possibly won't use them to get up) so when calculating how much space they need to safely land, you need to figure they'll fly off at a 45 degree angle so however tall the roost bar is, that's how much space they'll need in front of it to safely land.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

Thanks for all the advice! I am feeling very uncertain about my plan now maybe I will wait another year or two to expand my flock. I thought I had a solid plan but now I feel like it is a very flawed plan and I need to rethink the whole thing!

You’re on the right path, and you’ve gotten excellent advice so far.

When in doubt, go bigger.

 

[Acre4Me]

So I would like say it may cause issues.

I have 36 birds varying in age and breed. I have a 4' by 18' coop that every single bird roosts in despite other coops. There are two roosting bars even in height the full length. There is a 2' open door with 2' closed on the right 10' on the left. They established min girls om the short front, then downward to the left. rooster roosts looking out the door. Never once seen a squabble expect when I added some 1 year old hens that ended up at the top.

Majority of my birds are young and my rooster guards and shuts down any arguments fast. Your results may vary, but my girls wont roost elsewhere now.

As I mentioned, depends on temperament of the birds. In addition, you live in a decidedly warmer area than OP, very low probability of the same winter weather for long periods of time.