Perches

[jrsqlc]

I am building new pens for my peas and have heard that you shouldnt use ' Treated Lumber ' for pearches???

Is this true? Why shouldnt you use Treated?

I have also been using larger bamboo poles for perches, but they are to slick for most of the birds. Some like it and only use the bamboo and others never use it.

 

[zazouse]

Treated wood releases the toxins the wood is treated with when they get wet and can be absorbed threw the feet and skin.

I have lots of woods on my place so when i need a good sturdy purch i cut down a tree.

All my roost are made from trees here.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't do peafowl, just chickens so far. I would not use treated wood as perches. I use it for anything that touches the ground but the rest is not treated. I can't say there is a lot of danger to the birds if you use treated wood that has dried out a lot, but why risk it?

I use tree branches for my roosts. I find that the position of the tree branch in the coop has more to do with which chicken roosts where than thickness or anything else. Height is most important factor, but access to look out the window seems second most important. That might explain why some like the bamboo and some don't. I find that the tops of my roosts get pretty slick, partly from them roosting up there and partly from the poop filling in the cracks and their feet then polishing the surface.

 

[deerman]

Don't think the new way of treating the wood, would harm birds. Reason they had to change the way they treated wood, because the harm it was doing.

Would not use round perch like tree limbs, up here with our winters. 2 X 4 are best ,those lay wide side up. That way the peafowl can cover their toes. You will see alot of free range peafowl in northern states, with end of their toes missing ......from frostbite. Wrap around tree limbs, they can't cover the tips of their toes.

 

[zazouse]

Ya know Deerman i noticed the last time i bought treated wood for my rose beds it was a natural color, it's great that they have changed the way they do them now as so many people use treated wood for picnic tables.

This is the size trees i use for my roost.

 

[deerman]

Those will be great in your area, but up here , best a flat surface in winter, we get down in negative teens , so frostbite is a problem.


Yes think that the reason they change the wood treatment, plus a lot of children playsets were made with treated lumber.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

I was searching for some perch info and came across this thread...I always get such good information when I find a thread where Deerman answered pea questions.
We miss you Deerman!

I'm worried about perches in the temporary grow-out-your-wings-pen. Peggy seems to be sleeping on the ground. He now has a companion-girlfriend in the pen with him, Squeaky, who sits and naps on the branch/perch I put in there, but I'm not quite sure where she is sleeping.

Their temporary pen is made of a 12 x 12 chainlink dog pen. I'm wondering if you have any advice about what may be a better or more appealing perch, and if so how to attach a perch in there? The branch I have just goes out the chainlink on each end, but it's curved so it doesn't turn when Squeaky jumps onto it (it does sway a bit). If I used lumber (dowel or, as Deerman suggests, 2 x 4), how would I keep it from moving or turning?
Zaz, how do you fasten in those perches in your picture?

Thanks for any advice from you pea-pen-people!

 

[zazouse]

I will get you a photo if it will let me post one today, I wedge them in the fence and hang them with stainless wire. attached to the frame

Ya know you could make them a platform out of pallets, that is what I do for my free range chicken to roost on and also made good feeders for the peas.

 

[zazouse]

This is an old setup been there 3 years, fixen to tear it down and put up new ones wouldn't look to bad if you painted them and the peas like to hide under them, in a small pen you could just build one out of 3 pallets..

 

[msmolly]

A quick and easy perch solution is those large wooden curtain rods they sell at hardware stores. The sizing isn't ideal for large, adult peafowl (great for chickens) but you can put 2 together if needed. You can get them unfinished in 8' lengths. I've wrapped mine in Duct tape, for better traction, plus I can rip the tape off to clean them. Also wooden banisters can be used.
Mine love the small tree's I've stretched across the top of my pen, but they HATE the square 2x2 rods we built a ladder out of, though the small peachicks and chickens like it.
This is a picture I found online when I was researching perches a while back.