Proper design of Roost Bars

[K0k0shka]

You couldn't talk me into using wood shavings. A little sweet pdz in a little sand go a long way on the coop floor easy to scoop out with a kitty litter scoop

How about you don't have to clean wood shavings? Kitty litter scoop sounds like work. I don't want to do unnecessary work. I have a 5x7 coop with a thick layer of wood shavings on the floor, no poop boards, no sand, no kitty litter scoop, no extra work. The chickens moved in 4 months ago and I haven't cleaned it yet. It doesn't smell. They scratch around and mix the poop with the shavings, everything stays bone dry. I don't intend to clean it until late fall, when I dismantle the garden, at which point I'll cart everything out of the coop and bury it in the garden to compost over winter. I'll do another emptying out of the coop in the spring, and put the dirty bedding in a compost pile to wait until fall, when I'll put that in the garden as well. So, I'm thinking shavings with no poop boards win over sand in my books - deep clean twice a year, and no cleaning in-between! Beats scooping every day, or however often people with the kitty litter scoops do it. Kitty litter scoops are for kitties

 

[centralcaligirl]

View attachment 1423058

This was the photo. Roosts are about 32" off the deck on a 48" wall. Always on the back wall as far away from south facing windows and vents as you can get them to minimize drafts in winter. This also allows them room to fly up to and down from the roosts. They need at least as much room sideways to fly down from as roost is high. (45 degree glide path).

Thank you for sharing this study, I have been thinking about perches for my new coop for some time so it's very timely information. I've wondered about the 2x4 flat side up also, especially since it did seem to be related to preventing frozen toes and it doesn't freeze where I live.

I'm curious, did you try any of the padding options mentioned in the study? The inner tubes or rubber tape or equivalent? Looking at your set-up it would be easy to try it on one of your roost bars and see which they prefer.

 

[CajunChooks]

Thank you for sharing this study, I have been thinking about perches for my new coop for some time so it's very timely information. I've wondered about the 2x4 flat side up also, especially since it did seem to be related to preventing frozen toes and it doesn't freeze where I live.

I'm curious, did you try any of the padding options mentioned in the study? The inner tubes or rubber tape or equivalent? Looking at your set-up it would be easy to try it on one of your roost bars and see which they prefer.

same here in terms of weather (Louisiana), which was hard for as I learmed because a lot of the advice I read seems to assume cold weather. Imn any case, I will be trying the bike inner tube, I will report back here with some photos once I do

 

[centralcaligirl]

same here in terms of weather (Louisiana), which was hard for as I learmed because a lot of the advice I read seems to assume cold weather. Imn any case, I will be trying the bike inner tube, I will report back here with some photos once I do

Thanks I would appreciate seeing it. Also thank you for posting the study - it was interesting to see the methodology and different roost types tested.

 

[JaeG]

The only issue with wrapping the perches with anything is if you have an outbreak of mites. Then it gives them lots of nooks and crannies to hide in and avoid being killed.

This is an excellent in-depth scientific study into the welfare aspects of different perching systems:
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4131

The relevant points from it are these:

 There is no consistent evidence from the literature on perch shape preference (e.g. round, oval, square, rectangular, mushroom) of laying hens. However, the experts’ opinion was that perches with rounded edges were preferable.

 There is no consistent evidence from the literature of a preference for perch width within the range of 1.5 to 10.5 cm. However, the experts’ opinion was that a perch width of 6 cm is better for bird welfare than a perch width of 3 cm (less good) or 1.5 cm (poor).

 

[CajunChooks]

The only issue with wrapping the perches with anything is if you have an outbreak of mites. Then it gives them lots of nooks and crannies to hide in and avoid being killed.

This is an excellent in-depth scientific study into the welfare aspects of different perching systems:
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4131

The relevant points from it are these:

 There is no consistent evidence from the literature on perch shape preference (e.g. round, oval, square, rectangular, mushroom) of laying hens. However, the experts’ opinion was that perches with rounded edges were preferable.

 There is no consistent evidence from the literature of a preference for perch width within the range of 1.5 to 10.5 cm. However, the experts’ opinion was that a perch width of 6 cm is better for bird welfare than a perch width of 3 cm (less good) or 1.5 cm (poor).

Thanks for giving us the highlights

 

[bayareapilot]

How about you don't have to clean wood shavings? Kitty litter scoop sounds like work. I don't want to do unnecessary work. I have a 5x7 coop with a thick layer of wood shavings on the floor, no poop boards, no sand, no kitty litter scoop, no extra work. The chickens moved in 4 months ago and I haven't cleaned it yet. It doesn't smell. They scratch around and mix the poop with the shavings, everything stays bone dry. I don't intend to clean it until late fall, when I dismantle the garden, at which point I'll cart everything out of the coop and bury it in the garden to compost over winter. I'll do another emptying out of the coop in the spring, and put the dirty bedding in a compost pile to wait until fall, when I'll put that in the garden as well. So, I'm thinking shavings with no poop boards win over sand in my books - deep clean twice a year, and no cleaning in-between! Beats scooping every day, or however often people with the kitty litter scoops do it. Kitty litter scoops are for kitties

For me it's not a lot of work. And it's well worth it because the sweet PDC absorbs the ammonia like nothing besides, i use the scooped up droppings and put it in one of my large three composters along with garden clipping said I end up with some great compost and about a month or so.

For me though the chickens are more like pets. So just as I wouldn't want my cat to have to use filthy litter box I wouldn't want the chickens to endure anything less than the best for their health.

 

[aart]

Roost size and manure management(to scoop or not) will never reach a finite consensus,
because most things work just fine for the birds and the rest is just personal preference.

 

[Kaesi2020]

I have several coops. I used 2x4's in all of the coops. So far no complaints from the birds. They are somewhat rounded on the corners.View attachment 2208243

Lovely picture! Is that just the coop or part of the run too? Very spacious. Looks like you get a lot of good natural light in there too.

 

[bayareapilot]

Roost size and manure management(to scoop or not) will never reach a finite consensus,
because most things work just fine for the birds and the rest is just personal preference.

Fair enough