Perch - Roost?

[elmo]

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Yes, exactly so. We keep doves and parrots indoors, and it's very easy to spot the differences in the feet of these birds compared to our chickens' feet.

 

[Lbrad7]

I suggest that you use something that is wide enough for your birds feet to be covered by their feathers when they settle down to help prevent frost bite. It's not much of a problem down south but I know it can be in colder climates. A 2x4 on end or mounted flat work great and I have used them in both positions but like Ridgerunner said I do think the birds prefer rounded roosts. I took down an old split rail fence and have a ton of the rough cut cedar rails. I started using them and the birds love them.

One thing that you really want to avoid is a metal roost if you live in a cold climate. They don't hold heat like wood does and it can cause their feet to freeze...just my two cents.

 

[gryeyes]

I loved being able to salvage old tree branches about as thick around as my wrist (or better) for the roosts in my Big Coop. I also hung one in a smaller coop/attached run set-up, in the run area, and the silly birds roosted there at night instead of going inside the coop sleeping quarters.

Until last night. Don't know what caused them to move inside, but I was glad to see it. Even though the run is closed and locked, I just feel safe with them inside the "box" of the coop.

 

[redfeather]

I personally think a wider, flatter roost is more appropriate. Why? I'll give you my reasons.


Now of course, a chickens toes can drape/curl over a round roost, although maybe not neccesarily with the same force as a parrot on it's perch.


Now us parrot owners have found, through years of trial and error, that a simple dowel is not good for our bird's feet- there is a high pressure zone at the top of the perch, and the thinner the perch is, the more this pressure increases, leading to pressure sores and bumblefoot. This is why it is better to use rope and natural perches for caged birds, so they can change the way they are gripping any perch so as to not get pressure sores. Most caged birds do not spend a lot of time on the ground either, so a bunch of round dowel perches of the same diameter will lead to arthritis after a while


Many caged bird owners are coming to see the advantages that platforms have for their parrots --in the wild parrots do not sit on perches all day, they are flying, foraging, nesting... even at night it has been observed that wild parrots will go out of their way to stretch out and lay upon a secure surface -- in the wild they simply do not sit and grip a perch all day, they're flying miles and miles for search of food and mates and very little of their time is actually spent sitting around.
I now use a platform for my cockatiel, and she uses it every night in preference over her perches. My senegal parrot has a very wide round perch (so wide it is almost flat for her) to use to sleep on, and she does. My sun conure and lovebird both have their respective sleeping pouches, and they use these without fail.


I think in general, a chicken being a much larger, heavier bird, that they would prefer flatter spaces to roost upon. They'll be steadier, and their feet will be less prone to injury.

Each to his/her own, but thats the way I see it! I use 2x4s with the wide side facing up for my birds... but I wouldn't hesitate to use very large, thick branches either... but they would have to be at least 8-10'' around.

 

[BooBear]

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My chicks toes do curl and we put a temp roost in the brooder hutch for them. They are already using it too. soooo cute. The temp perch is round and big enough for their 3 week old chick feet. This perch is just above their heads when they walk under it so they feel comfortable with the height. Ofcourse, some of the chicks like to be mischevious and peck the toes of the roosting chicks. The roosting chicks squawk and glare the ol' stink eye at them. The roosting chicks also have no problem pecking would be toe peckers on their noggins. Chickies are such fun to watch!!

 

[Lbrad7]

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[Lbrad7]

Not sure what I did to screw that last reply up but lets try it again...

I have a very large coop so I have a lot of different roosts/perches and I can tell you this...your statment of "to each his own" is very true in the poultry world. I have 8, 10 foot 2x4s flat and on end. I have 8 foot long split rail fence rails (about 4" round) and I have a wall (that is only 1" wide) that they can't wrap them toes around just balance on top of, and I have a 12' long 2x6. Out of all of those choices they all fight over the split rail fence rails and that stupid wall that I can't for the life of me figure out what they like about it. They also use the 2x4s on end and the least (if not ever used) is the 2x6 that is mounted flat. They use it as a walk way and I constantly have to clean poop off of it but they wont sleep on it when given the other choices.

I have made my comments based on what the birds seem to prefer given a wide range of choices. (the majority of my birds are heavy breeds with 30 or so cochin,d'Uccle,sebrights bantams.)

 

[patandchickens]

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Well, my experience (and that of many BYCers who have offered the choice is that if you offer the chickens a choice of the wide side of a 2x4 (corners rounded smooth) or a WIDE (like 5-6" diameter) dead tree branch, they either use them both equally or they mildly prefer the wide branch. Also in most cases I'm aware of, if you offer them the choice between a totally flat platform versus either of the two above arrangements, they will preferentially use the two above arrangements.

The only things to really avoid, based on experience not theory, are a) very narrow roosts and b) very slippery roosts e.g. pvc)

Chickens really are neither parrots *nor* ostriches, and I think they are the best judges of what they're comfy with

(Mine, btw, fight over the premium roost spot in the sussex pen -- the edge of a little piece of 3/4" plywood on which one end of the 'real' roost is mounted. This piece of plywood sticks up literally 4" higher than the actual roost, therefore it is the highest roostable surface in the pen, therefor they squabble like the dickens to see who is empress-of-the-flock enough to get to sit on it. The fact that it is 3/4" wide and thus not only clearly-uncomfortable but just plain difficult for the winning chicken to *balance on* does not seem to matter NEARLY as much to them as the fact that it is a whopping 4" higher than the real roost

(I do mean to screw a piece of scrap lumber on to make the top edge wider... but it is really low down on my list of 648 things "to do"... and in the two or three years it's been that way, with usually one particular hen being the occupant, nothing whatsoever bad has happened to her feet))

Pat

 

[7L Farm]

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Yep!!! Your right my chickens toes curl. Don't all birds toes curl ?

 

[redfeather]

Oh, please do not misunderstand me - I was not trying to say chickens have feet like parrots, but rather, even though parrots have the ability to spend the night hanging upsidedown from a surface, they will still usually prefer an either flat, or very wide round surface on which they can almost completely relax their feet or lay down upon.

For instance, my flock of BO's prefers the shelf that goes along one wall of the coop above any of the other roosts, and then the flat 2x4s after that. None of them use the rounded 2x2 roost except as a pathway.

I was just using the parrots as an example of why we can surmise that they might prefer a larger, flatter perch (and a large, wide branch qualifies here).



Edited to add: you know, I am trying to get with the abbreviations of the forum, but I still don't like calling my Buff Orpingtons "B.O.'s".... makes me think of "body odor" instead of the bird!