Roost bar?

[RESQME49]

What is the best board for roosting bars? 2x4 wide side up? 2x2?

 

[wamtazlady]

I use a 2x4 wide side up. Not sure if it is the best roosting bar but it works for my chickens.

 

[RESQME49]

Curious if anyone has done edge side up and wide side up and checked which one they prefer?

 

[mowin]

Mine are 2x3 on the side. Haven't asked them if they like it or not, and they haven't told me otherwise, lol.

 

[Huntmaster]

In cold locations or severe winters, it is best to have wider roost bars that the birds can put their whole foot on rather than have to wrap toes around. It allows them to completely cover feet with feathers when roosting to help with frostbite.

 

[bruceha2000]

2x4 on the flat is recommended. Chickens are walking birds, not perching birds.

That said, I once had to put a 1/2" plywood divider on the roost to keep a mean girl from harassing the pullets. She would chase them off the roost then go back to where she had settled for the night. some of my hens decided roosting on the 1/2" edge was acceptable. Maybe because it was the highest place in the coop? I don't know and I can't imagine it was comfortable but they didn't fall off.

I have both 2x4s and 3.5" round poles. Neither seems to be preferred over the other.

 

[3KillerBs]

This is one of those heated debate things where I suspect that the chicken keepers care more than the chickens themselves.

A 2x4, either side up, is the most common answer.

I personally use the trunks of young saplings which are no smaller in diameter than my wrist -- because 2x4's cost money while young pines and scrub oaks are free and have to be cut down anyway.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Curious if anyone has done edge side up and wide side up and checked which one they prefer?

Actually someone has tested it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-perch-experiment.74272/

 

[Acre4Me]

For large birds DO NOT use flat side up.

Additionally, it is an incorrect statement that birds will only be able to completely cover their feet on a flat board. Birds can cover their feet just fine on a round branch or similar item, or on the narrow side of a 2x4.

Back to the reason NOT to use flat side for large birds. It can cause problems for them, and I’ve had personal experience with this. As a new chicken owner I put my roost boards flat side up. I purchased a variety of birds, including Black Jersey Giants from a breeder. BJG are the largest chicken breed, and according to the breed standards, only 5 breeds indicate a minimum standard weight for a rooster of 10lbs or more, with BJG standard at 13lbs or more for a rooster (over 1 year of age). Given their large frame and weight, their keel bone rested on the flat side of the roost, this caused friction, and rubbing and my large male (under 1 year, and not fully grown yet) developed a large breast blister that took months to fully heal, in addition to much attention from us. I spoke with the breeder and explained the breast blister, but had not mentioned the roosts (although I had already figured out that the roosts caused the problem). Before I finished the description of the breast blister, the breeder told me that a roost that is too wide will cause this type of issue. We changed all of our roosts to narrow side up, and no problems or Brest blisters since.

You can get away with a wide roost with a smaller bird, as they do not have the size or weight to easily develop a breast blister. But, the wide roosts do not serve any function other than perceived preference.

 

[Devorah]

In cold locations or severe winters, it is best to have wider roost bars that the birds can put their whole foot on rather than have to wrap toes around. It allows them to completely cover feet with feathers when roosting to help with frostbite.

So thick branches would be less desirable? I am renovating a barn coop that came with lovely roost branches. I haven’t measured the width but my mind’s eye tells me they don’t fit the specification you have described. We live in New England in a cold zone.