Roost Heights

I am in the process of doing up store brought coop. Trying to make it a bit more sturdy etc. one issue I’m not sure about is the roost heights and locations. There are 2 that came with the coop, both are only 7cm off the ground which seems to low. I can possible more one up height and it will be approx 45cm off the ground and leave 45cm from the very centre of the roof to fly up there. I’m not sure if I put both up they will have space to fly/jump. We have one chicken at the moment and the plan is to introduce 3 more to boost numbers before winter. Would love any suggestion for the roost placement
B4DED96A-EAB2-4B6D-8F70-937F00462D52.jpeg
605D9176-3D3E-4888-8ED7-2949FB263ADC.jpeg
CFDE2700-200F-42A8-A5C0-129C89B2655D.jpeg
 
Are you asking how tall roosts should be? If so it depends what breeds you have. For example you may have flighty leghorns who want roosts at 4-5ft or fat lazy orpingtons who want roosts at 2ft.
We have one astralope and looking to get 3 light Sussex. Just wondering if they would make it onto a high roost given the space
 
I’m having the same exact problems. I purchased a coop from Amazon and the roosting bars are too low and we got our RIR and Cinnamon Queen today they are 11 months old and they was not roosting tonight when I checked on them. They are laying on the floor of the roosting area. I’m super sad because why would they sell a coop without the correct roosting technique. Now I have to figure out how to get them to roost at night instead of laying on the floor.
 
The birds have to be able to fly down from the roost. They need space for this, and it doesn’t look like there is space. I’d keep the roost on the lower side of things in your setup.

In my coop, we have a ladder style roost, with lowest rung at approx 18” above the floor. The highest at approx 5’ above floor. This is a walk-in coop. The birds love the top roost, but the top 3 roosts are packed in at night. If I go in during the day, the flightiest birds resting in the coop will look to leave immediately. They position themselves in line with the human door (which is opened), and fly out preferentially that way. But, even the more chill birds will fly down inside the coop and need space to do so. Outside the coop there is a railing, part of the deck to access the elevated walk-in coop. There is approx 9’ from that railing to the tall fence straight ahead. Sometimes, the chickens will lightly hit the fence coming down from that railing…even with 9’ of distance. So, height and depth matter to a chicken trying to leave a roost.
 
We have one astralope and looking to get 3 light Sussex. Just wondering if they would make it onto a high roost given the space

I'm sorry to have to say it, but that coop is too small for your proposed flock. 😟

A flock of 4 needs at least 16 square feet in the coop (not counting nests), 40 square feet in the run, and 4 square feet of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation.

This coop was designed to meet those minimums exactly: Article 'The Little, Monitor Coop' https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-little-monitor-coop.76275/

Here's a great article on heights: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/
 
Do you have a link to that coop that would show dimensions and maybe photos from different perspectives so I can get a better feel for that coop and what you are working with.

We have one astralope and looking to get 3 light Sussex. Just wondering if they would make it onto a high roost given the space
Not sure how much room you are working with. That's why I asked for a link.

The way I determine the height if the roost is to first figure out the height of the floor with whatever bedding it may have in it. Then position the nest, but that height is already set. Then I position the roost.

Chickens tend to want to sleep in the highest point possible so it is best to put the roosts noticeably higher than any place you do not want them to sleep. In your case that looks like the bottom of the nests after you put bedding in there. Again, the link might help.

In something that small 15 cm (6 inches) higher than the bedding in the nest should be enough. In a larger walk-in coop 30 cm (12 inches) might be necessary. If the roost is only 7 cm above the coop floor it may not even be higher than the bedding in the nests.
Your breeds should be able to ho/jump up 30 cm, At 45 cm they would probably want to spread their wings and flap once when they jumped. I'm not sure if that is big enough for them to spread their wings like that.
 
For small coops a good rule of thumb is the chickens need to be able to hop onto the roost bar.
For large coops I prefer to have a platform under the roost bar and ladders/ramps leading to the platform; the roost bar hop height from the platform.
I've had tall coops with high roost bars from ground level and apart from the regular crashes flying off the roost there comes a time when the less young are prone to injuries getting to and from the roost bar.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom