Is a 4 foot roost too high for my chickens and coop?

[SleepyOwl]

I am almost done with my coop, and I put in the roost today. It is 4' high, and it looks so high up. I did make a "step up" roost, that is a bit over 2' tall. With the combination of having a couple heavier birds (Brahma and Wyandotte) and the coop being on the small side (5'x6') I now I am thinking that I should lower it to 3'. Am I right, or am I over thinking this?

Thanks!

 

[ScottM]

Depends, is your run covered? Will you clip wings?

Just from what you've given, I'd lower it. Or maybe my girls are just fat and lazy

 

[HouseMouseHens]

I have been wondering this too... am about to start building my roosts tomorrow, and the bottom one is planned to be about 36 inches up... Seems kinda high. I have 13 different breeds of hens, and since they are tiny, I won't know f they can get up that high any time soon....

 

[Debbz]

Can you put it temporarily in place and lower it if needed? Most people would probably say that would be fine, but I have one chook that wouldn't even get up on a perch 18" high who sat on the ground overnight. It turned out she was scared of flapping up to it (!), so I installed a ladder to the roosting box (in a tractor) and the problem was solved.

Try it out and see, adjust it if you see they have any trouble.

 

[Ole rooster]

Can you put it temporarily in place and lower it if needed? Most people would probably say that would be fine, but I have one chook that wouldn't even get up on a perch 18" high who sat on the ground overnight. It turned out she was scared of flapping up to it (!), so I installed a ladder to the roosting box (in a tractor) and the problem was solved.

Try it out and see, adjust it if you see they have any trouble.

I agree here. The ladder is always the extra help come chickens need. Not all of um will fly up to roost. I've found my older ones and the young just look for a way to walk up. But the teenagers are just to impatient to wait so they jump or fly up and down.

 

[Fred's Hens]

A couple of factors come into play.

For large, heavy fowl, asking them to jump down from 4 feet all the time is a potentially damaging. I don't want my heavier hens doing that, ever. Also, the high roosts, if improperly placed, can provide a jumping off point, allowing younger, flightier birds to easily clear 7 or 8 feet. What possible escape points need to be considered?

A graduated roost, with "steps" up 2 feet, 4 feet, etc, helps in not asking an older, heavier hen to be an Olympic gymnast every time she comes down from the roost.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I can help you overthink putting a roost in the coop. I read this as a roost in the coop question, not a roost in the run question.

The roost needs to be higher than anything you don't want them to roost on, like the nests. They poop a lot when they roost and you don't want that action in your nests.

The roosts need to be as low as reasonable. I'm not that concerned about full sized fowl hurting themselves just by jumping down from a roost. Mine spread their wings and flap as they come down so they land fairly softly. But if space is tight, and yours is, then it is more of a concern. They need room to fly down. The higher the roost the more horizontal room they need. There's the other related problem where they can fly into walls, nests, feeders, waterers, whatever might be in there on the way down and hurt themselves. So make them as low as you reasonably can and give them as clear a landing area as you can. Don't obsess about it, just do the best you can with what you have.

My full sized fowl have no trouble jumping/flying up to a roost that is 5 feet high. But mine have wing room to fly. That makes a difference. Most use the top of my nests, about 2 feet high and three horizontal feet away, as an intermediate step up anyway but they all pretty much fly straight down. But they can and some do jump/fly straight up. Mine are mostly mutts but their ancestry is Speckled Sussex, Black Australorp, Delaware, and Orpington to get an idea of the size. Your intermediate step up is a good idea.

The way I suggest you position your roosts so to put in your nests first, then make your roosts noticeably higher than the nests. In a coop as small as yours, I'd think 6" to 8" difference would be enough. In a big coop where the roosts are well away from the roosts, it may need a foot difference to be noticeble.

Good luck!!!

 

[Time-Out]

Yes, birds definitely seem to climb up and fly down. I have mine about 5' up. The barnevelder cockerel (he's a big lad) uses up all the space to fly down (maybe 6-7'). If you have your roost on the slim side of your coop and a foot away from the wall, that leaves 5' of landing space (as long as the opposite wall is clear). To be safe, for your brahma's sake, you might want to lower it half a foot. I think that should be ok. Make sure, as other have said, to have it higher than your nest boxes, though! You could put those underneath...

 

[Fred's Hens]

I can help you overthink putting a roost in the coop.

 

[Red Barn Farms]

I kind of have my flock separated into smaller flocks. I try to keep my heavy birds together. Heavy breeds as in orpingtons, barred rocks, sex-links, jersey giants, etc. I would not want my heavy breeds jumping any farther down than 4 foot. I also provide 'stepping' points so they actually only have to jump down one foot at a time before landing on the ground. They do take advantage of this. My lighter chickens as in old English game, silkies, etc always find the highest spot they can in the barn. It's not uncommon to find my old English game in the rafters. I've tried many times to get them back to a lower height with no luck. They are great fliers and so far so good! I just make sure they ALL have plenty of room when landing so they do not have to fly into any walls or obstacles which could cause bodily damage and or death. As far as nest boxes go mine are only one foot off the ground and my pullets and hens have always layed in them from day one. My nest box in one unit which consists of three boxes and a front perch made from a 2x4 pine board.