Rofftop Coop

[GaryChips]

Does anyone have experience with a coop on the roof? What can I use on the floor of the run that will let the chickens scratch their feet? I was thinking of also adding a sand box so that they can roll in the sand (since there will not be dirt). Any suggestions?

 

[teach1rusl]

Many people do the entire run in sand. I would think that a rooftop coop would be a smaller structure with just a few birds, so sand in the run should be very doable. Of course you would want to provide them greens through veggies, or even the little salad bar grass boxes that some use.

 

[GaryChips]

Thank you for the quick reply! The coop we are planning will have 4 birds to start with a "walk-in" run to make cleaning easier. The roof is a big flat roof that is on a 2nd floor with trees towering over one side.

 

[teach1rusl]

Just keep in mind, since they will most likely live their entire lives inside the coop/run, don't skimp on the minimum guidelines for sizes. For permanently contained birds, I would not go less than 10 sq. ft. per bird of run space. So with four birds, you'd want a 5 x 8 or 4 x 10 or whatever. Obviously more space is always better. And that's for LF chickens, not bantams. My bantam coop is basically 4 x 10 (maybe just a tad larger), and I think it took about 3/4 scoop of sand to fill it with about 3.5 inches of sand. Of course you will have to deal with lugging it by the bucketloads up to the roof...lol.

 

[zengrrl]

Sand is def the way to go.

 

[bryan99705]

Is there any info from the pidgeon raisers. Seems it's a common hobby and maybe you can steal some ideas.