Roost design

[TropicalBabies]

Any tips or suggestions to get hens to use the bars? I have one hen that unless she is on the top bar wont roost on the lower bar. She isn't even head hen she is the newest and youngest chicken we have, roughly 12/13 weeks. Some nights if she gets in first she will get on the top bar but if she isn't she will sleep on the poop board instead of the lower bar. There is space for her on top but she likes her certain spot.

Sounds like she is avoiding being pecked as she is low in the order.

 

[mossyoakpro]

Where will they be until 6-8 weeks?
No need to wait that long in your climate, they should be off heat by 4-5 weeks.

That's good to know...I have a brooder pen that I was going to keep on my back porch but taking them out that early will certainly help get them off the porch

 

[Bofonnie]

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.

Agreed

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Any tips or suggestions to get hens to use the bars? I have one hen that unless she is on the top bar wont roost on the lower bar. She isn't even head hen she is the newest and youngest chicken we have, roughly 12/13 weeks. Some nights if she gets in first she will get on the top bar but if she isn't she will sleep on the poop board instead of the lower bar. There is space for her on top but she likes her certain spot.

She likely wants to be "safe" up against the wall/away from the others.

When I have a hen sleeping somewhere I dislike (like in a cold part of the coop instead of near the coziest corner, or somewhere she can be poo-ed on). I pick her up and put her in a safe place that is still far from others, like in a nesting box or in the "hospital" area.

I have 2 separate roosting areas in the coop, one of which is smaller, that one has been taken over by my bossy hen most nights. With her in her own room, the others normally share the other one. (Technical 3 hens could comfortably sleep in the small room, and when "the boss" chooses to sleep elsewhere often 2 or 3 hens will use it).

All that to say... A separate area is likely what you need. It will split the mob, and the confusion will help them settle in.

 

[Bofonnie]

Agree that they will be a pain to clean. I used those log/branches in my first coop, now use untreated 2x4's.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Agree that they will be a pain to clean. I used those log/branches in my first coop, now use untreated 2x4's.

If in a wooded area (like me) they can be swopped out for fresh branches when dirty.

I put the mucky ones outside and the rain /snow cleans them for reuse (or they end up in the wood stove in the garden)

But I agree that the branches get mucky and will need to be switched out (so you have to attach them in a way easy to swop out. )

What I like is the texture has no splinters and they are free.

Oh! Don't use pine or anything else with fresh sap unless you let them age for a while. Pine gum is... Yeah... Sticky

 

[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.

 

[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...

 

[3KillerBs]

But I agree that the branches get mucky and will need to be switched out (so you have to attach them in a way easy to swop out. )

I don't understand how people's perches get mucky.

Except when VERY young chicks play on the adults perches all poop lands underneath. I never have to clean poop off perches.

See how their backsides hang down below the branches?

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

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

This is hilarious to me!!!! I cant even deal. So funny...