Roost height

[dae006]

This is my first coop build and when finishing up to put the roosting bars in, they just seem a little high. The top of the 2x4's are at 34 inches. Is that too high? I can't easily lower them since they are right above the nest boxes (covered for now in 2nd picture) and under the window. Should I work on getting at least one on them lowered? Last night was the first night the 9 week old's were in the coop and only the rooster was on the roosting bar. The other 7 hens were on the ground. We have ~4" of hemp bedding in there and I ordered another bag, I should probably put more in, correct? I will be doing the deep litter method.

Thanks

 

[thecatumbrella]

They'll cuddle together on the ground for a few more weeks. You can go in after dark and manually place them on the roosts to help them along, if you'd like.

 

[dae006]

They'll cuddle together on the ground for a few more weeks. You can go in after dark and manually place them on the roosts to help them along, if you'd like.

So you're okay with the height of the bars?

 

[thecatumbrella]

I mean, it's a little tight getting up and down. At 34" high, you typically want to leave 34" of landing space in front of them. If you can't adjust the height, maybe consider adding a ramp along one of the walls as a transition piece for getting up and down.

 

[Intuit]

This is my first coop build and when finishing up to put the roosting bars in, they just seem a little high. The top of the 2x4's are at 34 inches. Is that too high? I can't easily lower them since they are right above the nest boxes (covered for now in 2nd picture) and under the window. Should I work on getting at least one on them lowered? Last night was the first night the 9 week old's were in the coop and only the rooster was on the roosting bar. The other 7 hens were on the ground. We have ~4" of hemp bedding in there and I ordered another bag, I should probably put more in, correct? I will be doing the deep litter method.

Thanks

My roots are about 4.5 feet high above their poop board which is 34 inches high. My head are three months old and do just fine getting on the roost.

Funny story...one night we couldn't find 2 hens, after looking everywhere we looked up and they were roosting on top of the door which is a regular human sized door. So I'm quite sure your hens will be just fine with the current height.

 

[DobieLover]

When your pullets and cockerel mature, they will roost. They don't have a mother hen to teach them. It takes time.

I agree that you should have a nice thick layer of bedding to cushion their landing.

As the birds age, they may prefer to use a ramp. Two of my 7 year old hens and 4 of my larger bodied 6 year old hens prefer to take the ramp up and down to get the to the poop boards then hop up onto the roosts.
I ran the ramp parallel to one of the boards and support the bottom on a cinder block to reduce the pitch. The cleats are spaced 7" apart on center. I hang the top of the ramp to the edge of the poop board using hooks and eye bolts so it's easy to remove for the annual coop cleaning.

they were roosting on top of the door which is a regular human sized door. So I'm quite sure your hens will be just fine with the current height.

Just because they can get up there doesn't mean you should let them. Birds can injure their legs and feet jumping down from such heights in a confined space.

 

[springvalley123]

Where are you geographically? Where I am, the ventilation (windows) at roost height might be an asset much of the year, but not during winter. The breeze or wind blows right onto the roosting birds.

I once found out the hard way that lots of birds won't roost where there's an "open" window, even if it's covered in hardware cloth. They need some sense of closure at the roost height.

So lots of people have the roosts at least a foot, or more, below the windows. But as Intuit's picture showed, the birds will naturally find the highest spot they can get to for safety, which could be well above the windows.

You could lower the front roost bar so they could use it to hop onto the 34" roost, you could use cardboard for now to block the roosts. A bracket or other wooden brace might work for that.

 

[DobieLover]

Where are you geographically? Where I am, the ventilation (windows) at roost height might be an asset much of the year, but not during winter. The breeze or wind blows right onto the roosting birds.

Windows at roost height are always an asset. You close the windows during cold weather.

 

[dae006]

Good to know. I am in SE Minnesota in a valley, warm humid summers over 90°F occasionally and frigid winters, sometimes -30°F or even colder some days. The last 4-5 weeks have had highs in the 80’s and lower 90’s. I’ll keep the roosts as is for now and monitor them. Thanks

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is my first coop build and when finishing up to put the roosting bars in, they just seem a little high. The top of the 2x4's are at 34 inches. Is that too high?

What breeds of chickens do you have? If you have Silkies, Frizzles, Cornish Cross meat birds, or other breeds that don't fly, yes they are too high or you need a ramp or ladder to help them get up there. Otherwise they can easily fly up there if they want to.

Last night was the first night the 9 week old's were in the coop and only the rooster was on the roosting bar. The other 7 hens were on the ground.

With no adults present I've had 5 week olds go to the roosts to sleep, but that was only once. I've had a few broods wait until 14 weeks old before they start roosting. Not many, but a few. Most of mine start spending the night on the roost around 10 to 12 weeks of age. Each brood is different. When adults are around this changes. What you describe is very normal to me. Since one cockerel was roosting I'd expect the rest to start sooner rather than later.

If you wish, you can go out after dark and set them on the roosts to try to train them to use the roosts now. I don't, but you can if you wish. If you wish you can put up a ramp or a ladder to help them get up there. I don't, but you can if you wish. Some of them might use it but your cockerel did not seem to have a problem.

We have ~4" of hemp bedding in there and I ordered another bag, I should probably put more in, correct? I will be doing the deep litter method.

I don't use hemp so I don't know how deep it needs to be for the deep litter method. With their scratching they may have deeper spots and shallower spots. I'd tend to err on the deeper side until I gained experience with it.