Roost..how much room?

[kybeagle]

I'm getting ready to build the roost inside my coop and have a few questions. Thanks for any info you can give me!


1. Should all the roost be the same height and if so do you build a ramp for the chickens to get to them or do you build a ladder type roost?

2. How much space do you allow per bird on the roost?

3. If making the roost out of 2X4's, do you lay them flat or turn them on edge?

4. What should the height be of the roost?

5. If you do build a ladder type roost, how far do you space them apart (both height and width)?

 

[elmo]

A good rule of thumb is to allow a foot of width per bird. They won't use all that space when they finally settle down, but there usually is jostling for position before everyone is happy with their place.

I have my roosts all at the same height to avoid conflicts over who gets to be on the highest roost. I have bantams that are excellent fliers, so I put my roosts at around five feet high. No ladders or ramps. A lot depends on your particular breed of chicken; some of the heavier breeds have a hard time getting up and down if their roosts are higher than a couple of feet off the ground.

I use wide natural tree branches for roosts, but I've read that many people here do use 2" by 4" lumber with the wider side up (sanding down the edges to avoid splinters).

I can't advise you on dimensions for ladders since I don't use that type of setup, sorry.

 

[sydney13]

1 the roost don't all have to be the same height and if their are different levels then the chickens at the top of the peking order will be on the top roost. you could do 1 big roost or put many different levels of roost. their doesn't have to be a ramp as long as the chickens are able to get up. if you have breeds like silkies who can hardly fly then they would want a ramp to a low roost but if you have leghorns of some other breed that is a good flyer then you could have roosts at the top of the coop with no ramp
2 their should be 10 cm for each standard breed of chicken and bantams need 8 cm each.
3 you should lay the pieces flat so the chickens can have a better grip
4 it would be best to have it at least 2 feet of the ground so that you could have a dropping board under it
5 i would space them about 1 foot for the height and width so that the high birds dont poop on the lower birds
these ar my two roost
i have one over the nest boxes so that the poop lands on the linoleum on it and i can scrap it off, and i have a low roost for my silkie to get on

 

[kybeagle]

Thanks Sydney13 and Elmo, that helps me alot!

 

[gryeyes]

I'm one of those folks who use large branches (about as big as my wrist) for roost bars. I have 3 of them, with two at exactly the same height, and the third mostly the same height but tilting upwards just a tad. And there's a shorter one in the corner just for chickens to use to hop up to the others.

Mine are about 3.5 feet off the ground.