Pictured above are my split-level roosts. I misjudged my Stars and Orpingtons, figuring they would stay on the bottom rung and the Ameracaunas would end up on top; instead, all of them like to be on top. So now I am having to redesign the roost because 18 birds even in a 8' long span seem crowded. My option are to carry the roost around to the next wall, above the nest boxes (with added poop catcher) or to get rid of the lower roost and make the top roost wider(as far out from the wall as the lower one) with perhaps the addition of one more length of 2X4 on edge and some hardware cloth. It did seem that hardware cloth in my brooder trapped a fair amount of poop, necessitating clean-up, so I'm not sure if wire is necessary but it does seem like a single 2X4 is too precarious and I've since added a second thickness, making for a 3" thickness of board for their feet to grasp. I should add the top roost is currently 12" off the wall, which seems adequate.Also, I will be adding a ladder as-people have already mentioned-it's plenty easy for birds to fly up but getting down is a different and potentially damaging matter...Thoughts?
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