Roost height

[Baileybunchx5]

Hi we are building a coop for 10 hens. Orpingtons, Barred rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and speckled Sussex. What height would we want to put the roosts and any other info or pictures you may have would be helpful. How much room do they need to roost? Our coop will be 10x6 with 8 ‘ ceilings. Thank you

 

[Ridgerunner]

The way I determine roost height is to start with the height of the coop floor, including any bedding. Then I position the nests. Some people like the nests right on the coop floor, some people position the nests high enough that they don't have to bend over to collect the eggs. Or somewhere in between. If you collect eggs from outside the coop you might want a height that's convenient. People seem to worry about this a lot more than the chickens do.

Then I make the roosts noticeably higher than the nests or anywhere else I don't want the chickens sleeping. Most chickens want to sleep as high as they can get with the ones highest in the pecking order getting to sleep wherever they want. If your roosts are the highest point the chickens tend to sleep there. If the nests are higher than the roosts they tend to sleep in the nests. Somebody can always have an exception to about anything on this forum but in general, your life will be easier if your roosts are the highest point.

I do not want the roosts to be too high though. You don't say where you are located but you want decent ventilation in your coop and you do not want a direct breeze to hit the chickens when on the roost in colder weather. An easy way to achieve ventilation plus no breeze is to have the ventilation over the chickens' heads. Also, since you have a walk-in coop an easy way to check or handle your chickens is to wait until they go to bed and pick them off of the roost in the dark. Roosts should be a comfortable height for you to do that. The higher the roosts the more clear floor space you need for them to fly down. Another reason to not make them too high.

I've seen recommendations anywhere from 7" per chicken to 15" per chicken for roost space. A common recommendation lately has been 12" per bird, regardless of whether you have Seramas that weight less than 2 pounds per hen or Jersey Giants that can weight over 10 pounds per hen. I don't know how your coop is laid out inside but I'd suggest making it convenient to you so you don't block your access and either make a roost 10' along one side or put two roosts across one 6' wide end. That will give you way more than enough space for hens your size and should make installing the roosts easy. I'd keep the roost a minimum of 12" from a wall and if you use two roosts put a 12" minimum between the two. Some people put them the same height when they use two, some stagger the height some. Both work.

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

They also take up valuable floor space.
...and I have to ask, why is your ceiling completely covered (with insulation?)?
It's blocking the soffit venting.

For us, valuable floor space = more places to hide eggs that I can’t reach!

There are vents on the back side of the barn, behind the roosts, that are closed off in the coldest winter months only. There are 4 windows, the south facing ones are almost always open. There are exterior vents between each roofing joist to release any potential moisture. There are vents on both sides of the barn at the highest points. The barn door can be left open at all times because the run is fully enclosed with hardware cloth. The entire barn and run have hardwire cloth and wire extending out 2 feet along the bottom. In addition, the chickens and geese share a back yard, 1.5 acres, that is fenced with 7 foot high fencing made with deer fencing, plus 3 feet of hardware cloth on the bottom portion. It’s not perfect, but it’s what we have. So far we have never had a predator in our fence, but we cannot stop the hawks. We do have one of those crazy arm things running from early morning until the chickens go to bed.

The insulation was put on the ceiling because for one thing, it is extremely cold, and also, when there are extreme dips in temperatures, I like to give them radiant heat, which seemed to almost completely escape up and out. The ceiling insulation has allowed the radiant heat to warm the barn about 20-22 degrees. Prior to the insulation, it raised it 12-15 degrees. I want strong birds, but I also don’t want them frozen!

The other reason for the insulation is because the metal roof was so loud when there was a storm, my birds looked like they might have a heart attack. I nearly had a heart attack when I was in there. I hate metal roofs.

The barn interior is 10 x 20 with very high ceilings for 27 birds, and has never had any odor. The poop boards are scooped daily. There has never been any condensation on any of the windows. Hopefully ventilation is not an issue.

Thank you for looking out for any flaw designs I may have though. It is very much so appreciated. I’m always trying to make their space better, and I will fix anything that could possibly be a problem for my birds!

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

Whatever roosts you choose, straw bales make everything so much easier. If you watch your birds get off of high roosts, especially in a narrow coop, you will see the need for steps of a sort. It took me awhile to figure out that straw bales were the answer, especially as they get older and it’s gets more difficult for them. I put them everywhere to help, stacking them in funny ways as needed. No matter how high you make the roosts, they always want them higher, but then they can’t get down! If I roost is 3 feet high, they need something like 5 feet in front of that to jump down. Straw bales help with that as well. I will attach a few pics of our set up. It’s not great though. We do try to use tree branches as much as possible to imitate nature. They seem to prefer the round natural roosts. Have fun with your coop build!

 

[aart]

My newly built shed is only 6x8. I have EIGHT 10.5 week-old easter eggers. So far they don't seem to have any interest in exploring the roosts or nesting boxes, but they are also still adjusting.

How long have they been in there?
Pics of roosts and nests would help here.

I might get two small goats in the near future and they would probably need to share the shed, at least at first.

I would not keep the goat in that sized shed with the 8 birds, get your goat housing set up before you get the goats.
Goats might eat hay bedding, but they can also gorge on chicken feed(making them very sick).

 

[5Australorpasaures]

I have found a foot off the floor than a foot up and back on 45 degree stringers. This worked well when I had Rocks and Reds. You just have to decide how many roosting bars you want. I have 4 because I have the room for rise and run.

 

[3KillerBs]

You can put the roosts in at any height that is comfortable for you as long as it's higher than the nests and lower than the upper ventilation. But it's important to remember that most chickens fly at roughly a 45-degree angle and need about as much horizontal clearing as the roost is high in order to get up and down effectively.

Repecka Illustrates Coop Ventilation

I personally set my nests at elbow height and my roosts at shoulder height. I have arthritis and back problems and I'm not getting any younger.

I also have a ramp up to the perch to accommodate any birds that are too heavy to fly (I had a Brahma when this coop was built).

I don't recommend straw bales as permanent steps for the practical reason that my flock is capable of destroying a straw bale and spreading it over all available territory in no more than 3 days.

 

[arazla]

How well do you know these people?
Are they someone you visit often or was it just a one time visual?
Just because you see goats and chickens apparently living together in harmony,
doesn't mean there aren't issues.

That's true. It was in person, but only one time. Seemed like they were experts in everything, but ended up being a confusing and strange encounter after the fact. I'm assuming it was animal paradise, but maybe they were leaning towards animal hoarding. They had 9 goats on a plot of land much smaller than ours and were interested in rescuing some goats from my neighbor who was negligent. I had planned to take a couple of my neighbors goats we'd become attached to (the neighbor was grudgingly letting us bring water, which they never had, and was finally ready to let them go), but we weren't ready. They said they'd take the whole lot in the meantime and get them well until I had my setup. Once they got the goats, they never let us visit and blocked all further communication.

 

[aart]

straw bales make everything so much easier

They also take up valuable floor space.
...and I have to ask, why is your ceiling completely covered (with insulation?)?
It's blocking the soffit venting.

 

[Baileybunchx5]

You can put the roosts in at any height that is comfortable for you as long as it's higher than the nests and lower than the upper ventilation. But it's important to remember that most chickens fly at roughly a 45-degree angle and need about as much horizontal clearing as the roost is high in order to get up and down effectively.

Repecka Illustrates Coop Ventilation

I personally set my nests at elbow height and my roosts at shoulder height. I have arthritis and back problems and I'm not getting any younger.

I also have a ramp up to the perch to accommodate any birds that are too heavy to fly (I had a Brahma when this coop was built).

I don't recommend straw bales as permanent steps for the practical reason that my flock is capable of destroying a straw bale and spreading it over all available territory in no more than 3 days.

I appreciate all the input.