Roost design

[mossyoakpro]

Forgive me for the constant questions on things but I am trying to get everything ready for my first batch of chickens in the spring....my coop is a renovated farm shed/barn that I have busted my rear trying to get ready. LOL Anyway I am almost to the finish line...my auto door arrives this week and I will start on the interior with the bedding and such. I have been looking for roost ideas and have gotten some from here but I ran across this when digging around...is there any pros or cons to this design? It would actually work fantastic for my setup being that it is a rectangular shape but I thought there had to be higher bars for the bosses to get on? Thanks in advance!!

 

[3KillerBs]

I was thinking that too...maybe 15 inches or so apart??

Honestly, I think those bars are way too densely placed. You want them far enough apart that the birds on one roost can't reach the others to peck at them..

For a walk in coop I like roosts arranged in an L or a U so that I can walk up to any bird and do an off-the-roost welfare check.

 

[Ridgeback825]

I have a small flock that has been, and will be, added to. So I used 2x3s and have 2 levels. I planned my layout for where all the droppings will fall and my only regret is that our hen house is small with perches close to the walls. This allows them to poop down the side of the walls. My best advice is to plan for the poop!

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

I was thinking that too...maybe 15 inches or so apart??

Yes. That way, when your hens poop, it will all go onto the ground below, and you won’t have to try to clean each and every one of those rungs! Even a foot apart would be good!

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Well, I got some new cardboard up and was all set to post my bragging photos of how great this solution turned out to be.
...
It turns out #3 on the pecking order squeezed in with #1 and #2. That didn't go over too well with #4. So, she decided to sleep ON the EDGE of the cardboard. I took it down ... after getting a picture.

View attachment 3372898

We love you, we know your pain, and we ALL understand what it feels like to be outwitted by a hen (or a clutch of them)

Just because we spend HOURS trying to think, plan, design and build them something doesn't mean they will:
1. like it;
2. use it for the purpose we designed it; or
3. appreciate our efforts.

Sometimes this place feels like AA for underappreciated chicken addicts...

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

Forgive me for the constant questions on things but I am trying to get everything ready for my first batch of chickens in the spring....my coop is a renovated farm shed/barn that I have busted my rear trying to get ready. LOL Anyway I am almost to the finish line...my auto door arrives this week and I will start on the interior with the bedding and such. I have been looking for roost ideas and have gotten some from here but I ran across this when digging around...is there any pros or cons to this design? It would actually work fantastic for my setup being that it is a rectangular shape but I thought there had to be higher bars for the bosses to get on? Thanks in advance!!

That is a good design , other than the fact that those are round sticks placed too close together , which will make them a pain to clean.

 

[Krugerrand]

We just were discussing in this thread using cardboard to divide a roost so that Roost Hogs can't take too much of it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...r-roosting-bar-dividers.1559137/post-26434777

Linked post probably has the best solution. Just, be careful using staples. You don't want them to get ingested.

Well, I got some new cardboard up and was all set to post my bragging photos of how great this solution turned out to be.
...
It turns out #3 on the pecking order squeezed in with #1 and #2. That didn't go over too well with #4. So, she decided to sleep ON the EDGE of the cardboard. I took it down ... after getting a picture.

 

[Folly's place]

More roost space needed, IMO. The birds need space to get up and down, one foot per bird is way too tight. Double the length, at least!
Two roosts at the end would work, or doing an L would be very good, so you would have 17' of roost space, better.
Our roosts are set so they lift out of the way for shoveling out the bedding. Make it easy for you to manage!
We have a ladder roost in one section of our coop, for youngsters to learn how to get up on the roosts. Higher has more prestige for top ranking birds, so they are motivated to get on the higher roosts. We don't have Silkies, or birds too massive to fly, so no ramp here. Some of our birds roost in the rafters, eight feet up!
Mary

 

[mossyoakpro]

Pictures of future coop...(I didn't get my tools out) First pic is the front, my walk in door will be the middle hole, chicken door on the end. The L side that is closed in( West side) is where I am planning to put the roost (last pic) Back wall has the window the entire length that is covered on the outside with horse panel wire and inside hardware cloth...same as the East side window. My plan is to put the nesting boxes on the E side wall under that window (pic 2).

 

[TropicalBabies]

Forgive me for the constant questions on things but I am trying to get everything ready for my first batch of chickens in the spring....my coop is a renovated farm shed/barn that I have busted my rear trying to get ready. LOL Anyway I am almost to the finish line...my auto door arrives this week and I will start on the interior with the bedding and such. I have been looking for roost ideas and have gotten some from here but I ran across this when digging around...is there any pros or cons to this design? It would actually work fantastic for my setup being that it is a rectangular shape but I thought there had to be higher bars for the bosses to get on? Thanks in advance!!

I'm a bit of an outlier. My roosts are pretty close together in my main coop. It really works for me and my flock. No injuries, no bumble foot, no poop issues on roosts. I have a few coops with solo and higher solo roosts but this is the preferred by far. I have large breed birds.