Perch question

[chuck lady]

I am only starting out with chickens..and only have 4.
2 pekins 15 weeks and 2 pekins x silkies 17 weeks. When i got them i only had one perch in coop...and first night 2 older ones took the perch and other 2 left on floor...next day new perch went in and all my girls have a spot. My question is if i got a rooster will he need a higher perch above his girls or would he snuggle in with his girls where he likes...got limited height in my coop so havent got room to put more if they are only going to sit 2 on a perch just wondering if i got a few more hens and or a rooster will they eventually get on the perches together or is my 2 lowest of the pecking order gonna be on the floor...which i dont want to happen otherwise will stick with my 4 xx

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How big is your coop? The hens will probably fight over who gets to sit next to a rooster, mine do, roosters are safety. Don't crowd your birds, cochins and silkies are fairly meek birds but even they can bicker like crazy if there's not enough room for everyone to get away from each other if the choose. Not everyone wants to be near each other.

 

[chuck lady]

Just the bit they sleep in at night is 4ft x 4ft and so there is 2 perches in it as yes the silikies do not want to share their space. Was thinking of getting another 2 chickens but worried as silikies dont want to share and dont want the other 2 to be pushed off their lower perches as i can not put another perch in... their run is 20ft x 20ft roughly and then they have access to garden

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!

4x4 coop is minimum for 4 birds IMO, regardless of run space.
Adding more birds can be very difficult when you are already at minimum space.

I would not add a cock/erel until next year......
.......get some experience with these 4 first, then maybe get an adult cockbird.

 

[chuck lady]

Thanks ... thats what i thought hence only got the 4 birds in the first place...i will make the coop bigger over time and add more birds at later date

 

[Mrs. K]

If you have hard and cold winters, when you make your coop bigger, make it taller too. I have found that if I can keep the top of chicken's head, about 15 inches below the ceiling, with good ventilation, I do not get frost bite hardly at all. When I first started with chickens, their heads were right next to the ceiling.

Then what happens is their breath collects on the cold ceiling, condenses and rains back down on them, making the combs damp, and add very cold air, and you have frost bite. By lowering the roost, there is more air movement up and out of the coop, keeping them drier. Dry chickens are warm chickens.

Mrs K