Roost length

[Club cramahe coop]

when building my coop I did some research. It seemed that most places mentioned that I should have aprox 8” to 12” of roost per full size bird. I planned on having up to 10 chickens. My coop length is 8 ft and the design of it allows for one or two 8 ft long roost bars set at the same height. When I put them in the coop, they were still quite small so I took out the second bar as they only uses a small portion of the one. I figured I would eventually put the second one back in as they grew. The coop has a window at each end of the roost and they tended to spirit into tow groups and fight for the window seat. Especially when it was hot out. It was actually funny to watch them push and fight and block each other trying to get to the coveted window seat. They are , I assume , full grown at 6 months old and the ten of them still don’t use all of the one roost. They pack in so tight to each other. Am I ok to leave them with one bar ? There seams to be enough roost bar to fit a few more chickens in. I was afraid that they may spread out too much if I add a second bar now.

 

[DobieLover]

If they aren't using the second roost, I'd remove it so they have more room to jump on and off the current one.
My previous coop also had one long 8' roost with a short 1.5' piece running perpendicular to it in the center. I had 12 LF chickens in that coop without issue. They, too, preferred the window spots during summer.

 

[aart]

How much roost space per bird often depends on if they have to fly up onto roost,
they might need 'wing room'.

 

[rocking chickens]

I would leave just one bar. If you are experiencing cold weather the chickens could be huddling together and might take up more room once the weather warms up. I would leave it at one bar and just keep an active eye on them and adjust as needed.