Roost height?!

[EmCC]

Hi all, hope you’re having a good day. We just put in new roost bars for our 3 girls, but they still prefer to sleep on my shelves (which is really rather they didn’t as it’s a pain to clean up!) but I’m wondering if they are a bit high.
The bottom one is just over 3feet and the top is 4.5 feet.
I’m just wondering if jumping down from the top one would be hard for them? Or will the use the lower one to get down? Should I bring them a bit closer together perhaps?
Thanks!

 

[TomZilla43]

Honestly I don't think the height of the roosts are your primary issue. Because chickens are funny critters that do what they do(and sometimes that's unexplainable) I think you will either have to move or make the shelf inaccessible to them to accomplish your goal. I built a brooder into my walk-in coop and now use it as a storage area because I haven't needed it again as a brooder but it has a light weight door on it to keep the chooks out. If I forget and leave it open, bam they are in there like swimwear. So if you don't want to move it and I certainly understand how nice it is to have storage at the place where the work gets done I might explore closing off the exposed side of the shelf and putting a hinged lightweight door(perhaps just a frame w/ screen) on the front of the shelf. Good luck hope you find a solution that works for you

 

[jthornton]

Remove the shelves and they will use the roost. The roost needs to be the highest place to roost and the shelves are competing for that height. For 3 chickens one roost is enough.

JT

 

[aart]

I’m just wondering if jumping down from the top one would be hard for them? Or will the use the lower one to get down? Should I bring them a bit closer together perhaps?

How big is the coop?
They need a landing area.

I would lower roosts...and remove shelves, or enclose them all the way to ceiling to block access.

Here's some tips on heights:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

 

[EmCC]

How big is the coop?
They need a landing area.

I would lower roosts...and remove shelves, or enclose them all the way to ceiling to block access.

Here's some tips on heights:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

It’s a 5’x8’ shed so fairly big

 

[aart]

It’s a 5’x8’ shed so fairly big

~4' up and ~8' to land sounds OK.
I'd still lower them.

ETA...just realized roost are probably 8 feet long so only 5 feet to land,
definitely lower roosts.

 

[Col1948]

I would lower them too, as aart says the landing is important. I had mine high up but I saw a few take off from the roost to land and they hit the side of the coop so I lowered it.
Also I see you have nest boxes under part of the roost, they poop in the night and you don't want them pooping on the boxes. or anything else.
Put some poop boards under the roost and you will find it easier to keep clean.

 

[EmCC]

Honestly I don't think the height of the roosts are your primary issue. Because chickens are funny critters that do what they do(and sometimes that's unexplainable) I think you will either have to move or make the shelf inaccessible to them to accomplish your goal. I built a brooder into my walk-in coop and now use it as a storage area because I haven't needed it again as a brooder but it has a light weight door on it to keep the chooks out. If I forget and leave it open, bam they are in there like swimwear. So if you don't want to move it and I certainly understand how nice it is to have storage at the place where the work gets done I might explore closing off the exposed side of the shelf and putting a hinged lightweight door(perhaps just a frame w/ screen) on the front of the shelf. Good luck hope you find a solution that works for you

~4' up and ~8' to land sounds OK.
I'd still lower them.

ETA...just realized roost are probably 8 feet long so only 5 feet to land,
definitely lower roosts.

I the roosts are across the 5’ width

 

[Col1948]

Some people have different ideas on roost width, mine are 4" wide, I have read that is supposed to be about right, they need to grip with their feet.

Sorry were you talking about the length?

 

[EmCC]

Some people have different ideas on roost width, mine are 4" wide, I have read that is supposed to be about right, they need to grip with their feet.

Sorry were you talking about the length?

My bars are 4” wide. I meant they are across the shed width 5’ not the length 8’