Roost Headroom

[andham]

I am a brand new back-yard-chickenster.

I am re-cycling an existing wooden box into a coop. The box is 40" x 40" x 25" According to my plan this means the coop will be about 2 feet tall inside. My question is how high I should mount the roost. I want to put it as high as possible to discourage roosting in the nests, but I do not know how much room above the roost bar in needed. I suppose I am asking how tall a roosting chicken is or whether they discourage by proximity to the ceiling.

Thank you,

AndHam

P.S. This coop is going to be part of a chicken tractor so it will have a run which extends under it. The coop will be high enough for easy person access. My question is only about the comfort of the chickens inside the enclosed coop portion.

 

[gwrulz]

Depends on time of year. Summer they want to spread out for some reason

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined us!

I have no idea where you are located, your weather being the important thing about that, or if you plan on using it during the winter. There are several different things to think about.

Heat kills a lot more chickens than cold. With their down coats they can really handle cold weather really well. In the summer if you have much heat, you need enough room over their heads so you can have good ventilation over their heads so the heat can get out. In case the roof gets really hot and radiates heat, they need to be a bit further away too. Hot air rises. In warmer weather a gentle breeze blowing on them is not bad at all, even good, but they don’t need to be in direct wind from a heavy storm.

In the winter, again depending some on where you are, they don’t need to be in a direct breeze. Wind chill is real. But they still need good ventilation over their heads. The really big danger in cold weather is frostbite, not so much them freezing to death. Moisture build-up in the coop can lead to frostbite so they need enough ventilation over their heads for good air exchange but not low enough that the breeze hits them directly.

In some parts of the USA, a tractor will work well in the winter. In many parts, it will be a real pain and probably not the best place for them. A lot of that depends on how many there are and how you manage them. Some people make them work.

How hard would it be in your tractor to put the nest lower down, maybe even in a different corner?