Roost and Ramp Question from a complete newbie!

[HouseMouseHens]

So I have two questions about my coop. The first is about my roosts. The lower one is about 30 inches off the ground, and about 10 inches further forward than the higher one, which is about 42 inches off the ground and 10 inches away from the wall. Is this a good amount of space between them? Where we had to place the next box in the wall (because of the existing framing, were converting an old playhouse) left less space than ideal for the roosts. This is a picture of the roosts, They look closer than they are because of the angle of the photo. To the left is our next boxes and the awning we put over them so no one poops in them from the roosts.





My second question is about my Chicken-Door Ramp. The Door is about 30 inches up because there was already a hole cut and framed, and we chose not to reframe the whole wall to move it down since I've seen coops on here with high up doors. The ramp on the outside is a 2x8 about 4 feet long with 1inx1in treads every four inches. Below is a picture of the inside ramp, which consists of a ramp up about two feet from the floor to a platform (20in x 10in), a 180 degree turn and another ramp about a foot and a half up to another platform the same size at the base of the door. Does this look like it'll be okay? I plan to put sand on it before i paint it to give it extra traction. And I figure some of the girls will probably just fly up to the platform and the door. I am planning on putting a roost similar to the one on the next box on the edge of the platform so they'll have a landing spot if they do fly up.

Does this seem way too complicated for chickens? Without moving the door, this is the only way I could think of to do the ram without it being either SUPER steep or taking up all the room on the floor for the hens to fly down from the roosts. Like with the roosts, I pan on waiting until the girls are big enough to use it to see if there are problems before I change it, especially since it would involved tearing down and re-framing the almost the entire wall to move the door down.

What do yall think?

 

[SSTupperware]

They'll hop right up, but get some tree limbs for a pearch my feet would ache in the morn after sleepin on that...

 

[gardendufus]

Actually it looks fine to me. Especially access to the door.

ETA: To remove unnecessary portion.

 

[HouseMouseHens]

Actually it looks fine to me. Especially access to the door. Personally I prefer 2 X 4s as roosts, but that's my preference and works well for my weather conditions. I know many people use tree branches or dowels, and I guess they work ok for them.

What weather conditions are you talking about? Freezing and snow? It doesn't really ever snow here, just rains a ton, and doesn't freeze too much.

 

[HouseMouseHens]

They'll hop right up, but get some tree limbs for a pearch my feet would ache in the morn after sleepin on that...

I don't see how tree branches would hurt their feet any less than dowels... Am I missing something?

 

[Quack]

its just that tree branches have more texture so its easier not to slip thus less effort. it can also give them width options so there feet are not always in the same position.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How wide is your coop? I'm looking for how much roost length you have. I count 13 chickens in your flock from your signature. They need at least 8" roost sopace each and I really prefer more. You probably need at least two roosts. The 10" horizontal is a little tight between the roosts if you have full sized fowl. It will be OK for bantams. They might be OK but a couple of inches more separation would be a lot better. They are going to be pretty crowded up there. Some hens can be pretty mean on the roosts to less dominant hens. A bit of extra space can give them more room to get away from the bullies.

My full sized chickens have absolutely no problem jumping/flying up 5 feet to get to the roosts, though most use the top of my nesting boxes as a launch pad. Most use it but they don't need it. The nest box tops are about 2 feet high and 3 feet horizontal from the roosts. Two week old chicks have absolutely no problem getting up to my roosts, let alone full sized chickens.

I understand the tight space problems but I'd consider raising that outside roost and putting it over the nests a bit to give them more room up there. They will be able to get up there. You can put that outside one a little lower if you wish or put it at the same level as the other one. It really does not matter.

They really don't need those ramps at all. They'll just jump up to the pop door opening. The thickness of that wall is plenty wide enough for them to land. They don't need that landing platform or anything up there at that level. They will hop right up to the opening. You can put that landing platform about halfway up to the bottom of the pop door opening if you feel you have to do something. They will probably use that as a launch platform to get up to the roosts.

They need landing room when they come off the roosts. Those ramps are taking away that available landing room. Your coop space is tight. You need to optimize the available space, not take it up with stuff you don't really need.

 

[HouseMouseHens]

How wide is your coop? I'm looking for how much roost length you have. I count 13 chickens in your flock from your signature. They need at least 8" roost sopace each and I really prefer more. You probably need at least two roosts. The 10" horizontal is a little tight between the roosts if you have full sized fowl. It will be OK for bantams. They might be OK but a couple of inches more separation would be a lot better. They are going to be pretty crowded up there. Some hens can be pretty mean on the roosts to less dominant hens. A bit of extra space can give them more room to get away from the bullies.
My full sized chickens have absolutely no problem jumping/flying up 5 feet to get to the roosts, though most use the top of my nesting boxes as a launch pad. Most use it but they don't need it. The nest box tops are about 2 feet high and 3 feet horizontal from the roosts. Two week old chicks have absolutely no problem getting up to my roosts, let alone full sized chickens.
I understand the tight space problems but I'd consider raising that outside roost and putting it over the nests a bit to give them more room up there. They will be able to get up there. You can put that outside one a little lower if you wish or put it at the same level as the other one. It really does not matter.
They really don't need those ramps at all. They'll just jump up to the pop door opening. The thickness of that wall is plenty wide enough for them to land. They don't need that landing platform or anything up there at that level. They will hop right up to the opening. You can put that landing platform about halfway up to the bottom of the pop door opening if you feel you have to do something. They will probably use that as a launch platform to get up to the roosts.
They need landing room when they come off the roosts. Those ramps are taking away that available landing room. Your coop space is tight. You need to optimize the available space, not take it up with stuff you don't really need.

My coop is 8ft x 8ft inside. The roosts are just a couple inches short of 8ft, so they have like 14inches per chicken of roost. I was thinking about taking out the bottom ramp but leaving the other one and the platforms since they are up against the wall. The floor space is larger than it seems in these pictures.

I thought that you needed to have roosts at different heights so chubby birds could get up while still allowing fr the birds that like to be super high to get what they need? I have some larger breeds in my flock, and no bantams so I didn't want to make the roosts too high....

 

[Ridgerunner]

I won't go into the reasons but I agree with making the roosts as low as you reasonably can. Once you get them higher than anything else you don't want them roosting on, they are high enough and you don't gain anything by making them higher.

In general, the chickens that roost in the higher spots are the dominant birds. Size is not all that important, dominance is. It's not unusual for a bantam to be dominant over a full sized chicken but a full sized bird may be the dominant one. Each bird is different and each flock has its own dynamics. You might be surprised at how well those "chubby" birds can jump and fly if they want to.

You do have more room than I thought. It shouldn't hurt to leave that ramp if you want to. They don't need it but maybe you do.

 

[HouseMouseHens]

I won't go into the reasons but I agree with making the roosts as low as you reasonably can. Once you get them higher than anything else you don't want them roosting on, they are high enough and you don't gain anything by making them higher.
In general, the chickens that roost in the higher spots are the dominant birds. Size is not all that important, dominance is. It's not unusual for a bantam to be dominant over a full sized chicken but a full sized bird may be the dominant one. Each bird is different and each flock has its own dynamics. You might be surprised at how well those "chubby" birds can jump and fly if they want to.
You do have more room than I thought. It shouldn't hurt to leave that ramp if you want to. They don't need it but maybe you do.

Haha! I guess it's silly, but the ramp makes me feel better about them being able to get out.. I guess I should mention that one of my chicks, Nutmeg (my favourite one, an Ameracauna) has some issues with her legs and wings. We're not sure exactly what, but she doesn't seem to walk OR fly very well, and so I mostly feel like I should leave it for her just so it's easier on her. Poor girl.

I think I may try to move the higher roost back a bit... If I move the front one, it'll be over the nest boxes... is that okay with the awning we have on there?