Roost drama

[Jakico]

1st is the younger chickens sleeping on the door, then 2nd fizzgig patrolling the roost door, the third I opened the second door to see the 3 remaining elders together. (Jak-jak has blue feet today because apparently on top of everything else she’s gotten bumble foot)

 

[rosemarythyme]

But I like your idea of having more roost within the coop area and just making the entire coop a roost...the idea of the roost box was to keep them warm in the winter....

How cold does it get where you're at?

I know it's a hassle to have to modify things (I say this after fiddling with my coop the whole morning), but clearly your angry little bird doesn't want the younger ones roosting with her, so making room for a 2nd roost bar would be the most obvious fix.

 

[Jakico]

How cold does it get where you're at?

I know it's a hassle to have to modify things (I say this after fiddling with my coop the whole morning), but clearly your angry little bird doesn't want the younger ones roosting with her, so making room for a 2nd roost bar would be the most obvious fix.

The winters aren’t that bad. We live in Portland, Oregon and most our flock is cold tolerant. The big girls were small last winter so that was reasoning, but now this idea totally makes sense. I just told my SO we need to make alterations and he’s now looking at me like fizzgig looks at the younger chickens.

 

[Sonya9]

Is that a piece of furniture you turned into a mini-hen house roost? It is very cute.

Well very cute and very small. Chickens are pretty finicky regarding who gets to roost where, and there isn't a whole lot of space for those that don't qualify for the one roost bar.

I would try to put a second bar in front of the existing one in the door opening itself. They may be able to use that and that will make it easier to eventually get them in the box proper and close the door (maybe).

 

[rosemarythyme]

The winters aren’t that bad. We live in Portland, Oregon and most our flock is cold tolerant. The big girls were small last winter so that was reasoning, but now this idea totally makes sense. I just told my SO we need to make alterations and he’s now looking at me like fizzgig looks at the younger chickens.

Doesn't necessarily have to be a big alteration. Essentially "open up" the roost box so you have space to work with, and just run 2 roosts across the space there, at least 14-16" apart so they can't peck at each other.

You won't ever get such cold weather that the chickens must be fully enclosed. As long as the structure is predator safe that's the important thing. Mainly want to make sure that any predominant incoming winter winds or rain are blunted with walls or tarps/panels over the wire.

 

[Jakico]

Is that a piece of furniture you turned into a mini-hen house roost? It is very cute.

Well very cute and very small. Chickens are pretty finicky regarding who gets to roost where, and there isn't a whole lot of space for those that don't qualify for the one roost bar.

I would try to put a second bar in front of the existing one in the door opening itself. They may be able to use that and that will make it easier to eventually get them in the box proper and close the door (maybe).

The previous owners had the coop and roost so I’m not sure what it was made from. We added a large run by blocking off the area behind the buildings. The coop is smaller than I would like...and we found out later they kept pigeons (???) not chickens, but honestly they only sleep and lay in there. I get up early, usually before them and open the door to the run. They have a large area to run and forage when I’m at work. When I get home I open up the whole yard to them. Around 8 they all head in for bed and I lock up the run and front door. Sometimes over the weekend I sleep in and they are confined to the coop until 8, but I have a chicken cam and watch them to make sure everyone’s getting along. They are pretty spoiled now that I’ve said all this.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

The previous owners had the coop and roost so I’m not sure what it was made from. We added a large run by blocking off the area behind the buildings. The coop is smaller than I would like...and we found out later they kept pigeons (???) not chickens, but honestly they only sleep and lay in there. I get up early, usually before them and open the door to the run. They have a large area to run and forage when I’m at work. When I get home I open up the whole yard to them. Around 8 they all head in for bed and I lock up the run and front door. Sometimes over the weekend I sleep in and they are confined to the coop until 8, but I have a chicken cam and watch them to make sure everyone’s getting along. They are pretty spoiled now that I’ve said all this.

Your chickens sound like very fortunate, happy chickens with lots of attention and space. If you could increase their roost space, then their evenings could be as great as their days.

 

[aart]

Pretty tight roost spaces.