New perch going in today - how much space needed to fly down?

[Gullygarden]

I'm putting up a new perch today. My coop is 6x12 and I wanted to put a perch on the long side because that is where they want to be. My original perch was on the back but they keep trying to sleep on the ledge on the long wall, so I figured I'd give them a perch there. However, this way they don't have as much room to flop down before they hit the other side. So the question is, for Buff Orpingtons, how high can it be if the horizontal distance down is only 6 feet? The higher the better but I don't want them to hurt themselves! That was why the original perch that they don't seem to like was across the back with the 12 feet of space in front of them. Advice will be much appreciated!

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Good questions! I'll be looking to see what others suggest since I've got "heavy breed" pullets that are ready to go into their coop (as soon as the coop is ready for them).

 

[ECBW]

12 feet seems to be very long span and might sag without intermittant support or very beefy member.

How about going across the 6' dimension with 2 or more roosts, stepping up from 2 feet. Making them removable (and adjustatble) with slots for mounting.

My roosts are 2 feet and 3 feet AFF. Some birds actually prefer the lower roost.

 

[Katy]

My orps hop down rather than fly down. Their roosts are about 18-24 inches high at the most.

 

[7L Farm]

Here's my roost its tall & wide.

 

[colebarnhart]

6 ft shouldn't be too high or a problem with them hurting themselves. If you have the small edge of the board vertical that will help avoid some sagging issues also and go bigger than a 2x4, more like a 2x6 or 2x8. If you have rooster that you would like to keep quite while inside the coop, then put it high enough that will prevent him from being able to stretch his neck up to crow.

 

[Gullygarden]

Thanks everyone. I'm not so worried about sagging, 'cause we can brace it, as about chickens flying down cross wise and hurting them selves or hitting the opposite wall. I guess what I need to know is how much landing space do they need for different heights. I'm not so much worried about the barred rocks who seem pretty agile, as the Buff Orpingtons, which have not proven themselves to be extra smart at 10 weeks.

 

[7L Farm]

The picture above should give you the answer. I have 16 pullets in this coop. The roost is tall probably 8 ft they jump off flap their wings & land. I've heard its better for them to be able to flap their wings to slow them down before hitting the ground. The area below the landing strip doesn't have to be real big as you can see or maybe I have a good air controller.

 

[Katy]

I would caution against making your roost too high for your orps. It's easy for them to injure their legs when the roost is too high. I can't imagine my big hens and roosters having to jump down from a 6 foot roost. You are looking for legs problems. Leghorn or other light breeds would be one thing, but the heavy breeds are another.

 

[Kudzu]

I have a high roosting area, about six feet high. They have a cedar log that they walk up to roost. Well one day soon after they started roosting it occurred to me I have not seen them come off the roost. I was wondering if they flew down, hopped down or walked down. I got up early and waited on them, it was pretty impressive, one by one they flew down, good thing I had a long runway for them. It opened my eyes on what the need and what I needed to do, such as move all obstacles (stump/limb) out of their landing path. They really come down hard and I have witnessed a couple botched landings. But all in all, I think they have adjusted well.