Roost Placement

[RedMoxie]

Any thoughts on 2 parallel roosts in a 3ft by 11ft henhouse? Is it too narrow, or if they are staggered can that reduce some of the crowding? We bought plans for a decent sized coop, but I'm worried that having the roosts 7 inches from either wall and 12 inches between might be too tight for standard sized hens.

 

[azygous]

Which way are you planning to orient the perches? Parallel to the 11ft side or perpendicular to the long wall?

The main issue you will face with perch placement is in providing adequate dismount "running" room. Chickens don't just hop straight down from a perch. They hit the ground but do not "stick" the dismount as gymnasts try to do, but they "run". If you run a long perch the 11 ft length of the coop, there is no way your chickens will have enough dismount room without smashing into the opposite wall, risking injury.

I suggest you run short perches oriented parallel to the short wall. Perches at different heights will accommodate different breeds. Heavy breeds shouldn't have perches higher than 10 inches. The highest perch should be no more than 30 inches high. Foot and leg injuries are much more likely with higher perches.

 

[Welshies]

I suggest you run short perches oriented parallel to the short wall. Perches at different heights will accommodate different breeds. Heavy breeds shouldn't have perches higher than 10 inches. The highest perch should be no more than 30 inches high. Foot and leg injuries are much more likely with higher perches.

Agreed. I suggest roosts at 1, 2, 3, and 4 feet. Like a "ladder"- you can even design them to fold up when not being used. You need 12" of roost space per bird.

 

[RedMoxie]

Which way are you planning to orient the perches? Parallel to the 11ft side or perpendicular to the long wall?

The main issue you will face with perch placement is in providing adequate dismount "running" room. Chickens don't just hop straight down from a perch. They hit the ground but do not "stick" the dismount as gymnasts try to do, but they "run". If you run a long perch the 11 ft length of the coop, there is no way your chickens will have enough dismount room without smashing into the opposite wall, risking injury.

I suggest you run short perches oriented parallel to the short wall. Perches at different heights will accommodate different breeds. Heavy breeds shouldn't have perches higher than 10 inches. The highest perch should be no more than 30 inches high. Foot and leg injuries are much more likely with higher perches.

This is one of those delightful times when my husband proposed something (short perches across the coop, not long perches along the coop) and I balked and told him that sounded goofy...so I'm publicly outing myself before he does it...because this def makes sense now.

We've spent hours trying to configure our coop plan to meet the 16 chickens the designer says it can accommodate, but I think no matter where we put the roosts, it will be too small for our 15 girls. Probably going to can the plans and build a walk-in.

 

[jthornton]

Any thoughts on 2 parallel roosts in a 3ft by 11ft henhouse? Is it too narrow, or if they are staggered can that reduce some of the crowding? We bought plans for a decent sized coop, but I'm worried that having the roosts 7 inches from either wall and 12 inches between might be too tight for standard sized hens.

Roost height depends on what else is in the "coop". If your nest boxes are in the "coop" then you want the roosts a foot or so above them. If you don't have nest boxes in the "coop" 8-10 inches off the floor is fine. They will try and roost on the highest thing they can get to.



JT

 

[theoldchick]

I've got roosts at different areas in my coop. They are at different height and different sizes. One is a 1 x 6. Another is 2x2 corner roost. Another is a 2 x 4. And the nest boxes because 'somebody' did not think the tops did not need to be slanted. The varied spaces allow the lower ranked chickens to roost away from all the drama that happens at dusk. Seems to work well for me.

 

[jthornton]

We've spent hours trying to configure our coop plan to meet the 16 chickens the designer says it can accommodate, but I think no matter where we put the roosts, it will be too small for our 15 girls. Probably going to can the plans and build a walk-in.

I wish I had built a walk in with one long roost because they all want to be on the same roost lol.

JT

 

[PetesChicks]

This is one of those delightful times when my husband proposed something (short perches across the coop, not long perches along the coop) and I balked and told him that sounded goofy...so I'm publicly outing myself before he does it...because this def makes sense now.

We've spent hours trying to configure our coop plan to meet the 16 chickens the designer says it can accommodate, but I think no matter where we put the roosts, it will be too small for our 15 girls. Probably going to can the plans and build a walk-in.

You’ll never regret having a walk-in coop. They are a lot easier to work with. You might want to think about making it big enough to have a separate storage area in it. I have about 5’ of my 16x10 shed walled off, the chickens have the rest of it, about 11x10. I just framed out a wall and build a door, it’s covered with 2x4 welded wire I had left over after building the run. Chicken wire would work for it, as long as the coop is already predator proof. Always remember, chicken wire only works for chickens, pretty much any predator can get right through it.

 

[RedMoxie]

I wish I had built a walk in with one long roost because they all want to be on the same roost lol.

JT

Yeah, pretty everything we read keeps coming back to "you'll never regret a walk-in"...just curious, how many chickens do you keep in that coop you pictured?

 

[jthornton]

Yeah, pretty everything we read keeps coming back to "you'll never regret a walk-in"...just curious, how many chickens do you keep in that coop you pictured?

I have 9 RIR pullets and 1 Barred Rock roo. Eight will roost on the near roost in the photo and two behind them. The back roost is empty every night. Keep in mind my "coop" only serves one function a place to roost. When I built it I didn't know about this place till my neighbor mentioned it. I can't even imagine trying to sort out chicken logic for the first time without this place and the folks here.

JT