Official BYC Poll: What Kind of Roost(s) Do You Have Installed?

[K0k0shka]

Your girls look like theyre sitting there watching television! What a lovely picture Nice bright coop; Im working on my hubby to put a window in mine; its 8 ft high but needs more light.

Thanks! Mine is 8 feet tall, too (at the tall side - it's a lean-to and slopes down to about 6.5 feet). I have two large windows on the wall across from the roosts, and a large window in the human door as well. But I also get a lot of light from the all-season vents. The tops of all my walls are open, and there's a 6"-tall gap between them and the roof that wraps around the whole perimeter.

 

[RebeccaRN]

oh wow! Do they like the softness of the carpet? Seems like it would be very gentle for their feet. I think a good idea. How did you attach/cinch up the carpet?

They love it. I attached it with a staple gun

 

[deidreg]

Please could you give us a picture. I like the idea of catching the droppings! I spread newspapers under them every night but slways hsve an overabundance of them to get rid of.

This 2 minute video will give you a good idea.

 

[Fishychix]

The first thing I read on roosts when hubby was building the coop was 2x4, narrow side up, sand down the corners. So that's what we did. I have seen my chickens settle down on it, and couldn't see their toes, so I know they're covered. Had some pretty cold mornings, including -8, and no problems with frostbitten feet.

Same here. I read that having the 2x4 wide side up can cause it to bend under the weight of the chickens over time.

 

[Clucktown]

My roosts are covered in outdoor carpeting so that they may be hosed off, and the carpet helps prevent bumble foot.

 

[Chiknoodle]

In the back ground of the pic, there are some house for them. That is what they roost on. (On top of the house btw

 

[Michellemaurice]

Lots of humans overlook the importance of roosts (aka perches), but chickens don't. The natural way for a chicken to sleep is by sitting on a roost. Nope, they don't like beds or the ground. Only hens with chicks, injured chickens, and sometimes silkies (if they can't reach the roost) will sleep on the ground. In the wild, a flock of chickens tries to get as high off the ground as they can at night, most often in the branches of a tree. They do this to help them stay safe from land predators. Moral: please provide your chickens roosts to sleep on!

What kind of roost(s) do you have installed?

Multiple answers are possible and please tell us if you did anything to prevent foot or mite problems /show us your roost with a picture down in the comments section.

View attachment 2544576

Here are some interesting reads:

• The perch experiment
• Perch for roost, shape/size experimental findings

If you are wondering what roost shapes other keepers of chickens use, check out this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...osts-do-you-use-in-your-chicken-coop.1403365/

(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

Old hand rails at 2 levels.

 

[SolheimFarm]

My Omlet Eglu comes with a roost area with a plastic roost bars that lift out in one piece. Below is a tray to catch droppings, which acts like a cat litter box. Super easy to clean every day and hens like it.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

We have a small coop for six chickens. It has six nesting boxes along the sides and roosting bars between them.
It is similar to the google image below:

For more info, google:

CHICKEN COOP RUN HEN HOUSE POULTRY ARK HOME NEST BOX COOPS ECO HUTCH PLASTIC​

 

[nicolekathryn]

We have way more roost space than needed so we decided to experiment and install one long 2x4 flat/horizontally and the other vertically. Both our bantams and full sized chickens use both, as you can see here.