I am new to raising chickens. I have built a new chicken coup and enclosed run. Inside the coup I included two roost bars approximately 40 inches from the floor. I do not anticipate buying chicks. Probably several weeks old when I buy them. Do I need to add a ladder or will they fly up to to the roost bar by themselves?
In our new coop, we put ours about 2 feet up, and I was afraid my big fat barred rock hen wouldn't make it up there, so we built a ladder. First time in, it took her all of about a minute to take flight and get up there. So, it was probably a waste. But I'll leave it in there anyway. I'm guessing that as long as you don't have chicks, they'll have no trouble getting up there. Maybe put them in and watch them the first night, and see what happens. If they can't get up, make a ladder?
2 feet is a lot different from 40". Chickens CAN get over a 4 foot fence, but they would generally rather not, LOL. So yeah, I think that if the roosts are up 40" you need a ladder. I knocked together one for my coop using 2x4s. There is about 18" between rungs--the actual roosts are 8 feet up.
