Questions about Roosting Pole

[amenfarm]

I plan to use two natural tree limb roosts about 3" - 4" in diameter and 8' long. I was reading a thread on here a few months back where a BYC member mentioned they ran out of $$ towards the end of coop contruction so instead of buying a second 2x4 to install a second roost, they just used a large tree limb instead...all the chickens preferentially roosted on the tree limb...so that tells me they like them better. Plus, where we live, there are tall, skinny trees everywhere and the best part - they're free.

that's a great idea, I love free. However, bark is a great place for pest to live--mites,etc. You might want to consider de-barking the limbs first.

 

[RedneckGurl]

The kind of limbs I've got, the bark is thin and smooth, not rough and thick, so not much to remove and no nooks and crannies. I do plan to take our reciprocating saw and cut off all the little rough spots from where the small branches were removed and then maybe run over it with a sanding block.

 

[ToMang07]

I'm torn between using 2 by fours what side up and using natural tree limbs.

I'm also thinking about doing 2 different height levels, 1 lower 1 higher so they can climb/rest at different levels.

Any thoughts on this?

sent while swerving into the wrong lane...

 

[jesirose]

I'm confused how you came to 260" for 8 birds... We have four that roost on a thin bar and they insist on being as close to each other as they can. The others don't roost yet. But we put up a foot for each bird.

About 10 inches per bird standard size, little more for a jersey giant. So you need about 260" of roost length, not everybody gets along, so add about a foot for that-272". Use a 4 inch flat roosting bar, to keep their bodies warm and to provide balance. Try not to stagger at different height as they will all want to be on the tallest. 18 inches from the wall, 12 inches between each one and if you do poop boards no higher than 10' from the bottom of the boards or they will sit under the roost board and get pooped on! Keeping a insulated, ventilated-but draft free coop will keep the girls toasty. In another words, keep the ventilation up high, higher than the roost, you want moisture exchange--a damp coop will cause frost bite. If you heat the coop, they will not get as thick of a under coat of feather--then if the power fails, your in for losing some birds. Search the thread on here from Alaska, and read how they keep them. I have one 40 watt light that's on a timer in my cop--Not for heat but to keep them at 14 hours of light for eggs, my vents were 4 feet above the roosts, because i live in the deep south my current coop is un-insulated. Yes, it's not as cold here--the same principles apply in colder weather. You can give them a coating on wattles,combs of Vaseline to prevent frost bite--I only did on night below 35*F. Remember our grandparents did this long before electric and their birds survived fine. If you have trouble with the birds this winter you may want to consider cold hardy breeds next year like,Ameraucana , Australorp, Brahma, Buckeye, Chantecler(extremely cold hardy), Cochin, Delaware, Dominique or Dominiker,Faverolles, Jersey Giant, Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Rhode island Reds are cold hardy except their combs.

 

[RoseMarie1]

I'm confused how you came to 260" for 8 birds...

We have four that roost on a thin bar and they insist on being as close to each other as they can. The others don't roost yet. But we put up a foot for each bird.

yeah mine to. They all want to pile up on the very top roost and you couldn't squeeze another chick up there. lol They're so tightly mashed up there some actually are standing up all night long! I have FOUR roosting boards but they all want the top one! THEN when I made their poop hammock I have a few that get on it since it's just a bit higher now than the top roost is. chickens.....lol

 

[chickenvillemom]

I think 260" was the recommendation for ChelseaD's post -- she has 26 chickens. What I understand from the responses in this thread is that you need 10-12" per bird with a little extra in case they don't all get along. My problem is that I recently added 4 birds to my flock...while it sounds like 8 feet should be close to enough space for my 8 birds, the original hens don't want the new hens next to them...So, now there is squabbling at roosting time...if they don't work it out soon I am going to add another roosting pole in the coop (then they'll probably all just fight over that one! Lol!).

 

[jesirose]

I think 260" was the recommendation for ChelseaD's post -- she has 26 chickens. What I understand from the responses in this thread is that you need 10-12" per bird with a little extra in case they don't all get along. My problem is that I recently added 4 birds to my flock...while it sounds like 8 feet should be close to enough space for my 8 birds, the original hens don't want the new hens next to them...So, now there is squabbling at roosting time...if they don't work it out soon I am going to add another roosting pole in the coop (then they'll probably all just fight over that one! Lol!).

Ah I get it

Yeah when we added our second set of 4 as chicks, the older hens did not like them roosting near them. We recently changed the coop to have two bars instead of one, each one is 3.5 foot long which seems fine for those two sets of 4.

 

[kimthom66]

Can someone tell me if my top roosting bar is too close to the side wall? Are they far enough apart? Too high?

 

[ktn65]

kimthom66. I read in Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens that the roost should be at least 18" from the wall and they should be 12" inches apart in horizontally and vertically.

 

[amenfarm]

humm, i would so not want to have to bend that far over to clean the poop tray. Mine is 12 inches under the roost-- much easier on my back.