Rails for roosts or flat boards

[2manychooks]

Is it better to use rails for my girls to roost at night, or is it ok to use flat boards up to 2feet wide. They seem to like the boards better but my wife says that, unless i clean the boards on a daily basis they will pick up diseases and lice, and that is why rails are used for roosting as the poo goes straight to the ground. Who is Correct?

 

[dheltzel]

The best answer is -- both. Read about "poop boards" in this site and you quickly become a believer. They will roost as high as possible, so I use a 2 ft wide board with a 2x4 centered above it (flat, so they have 4" wide to sit on). I use old feed bags on the board, others use sand and scoop the poop out. Either way, more than half the poo end up on that board where it's concentrated and easy to remove. The main coop floor stays cleaner much longer that way.

 

[sdm111]

or real trees