Roost question....HELP?!!!?!!please!

[GopherBoyFarms]

ok, we are about to build roosts for our chickens. We have 25 chickens that are going to come out of the brooder as soon as the coop is finished. WE arent sure what to do with the roosts. We know where we want them. We want them along the back wall that is 8 foot wide. The questions we have are.........
How many roosts should we have
how high up should they be
for 25 chickens how much room should there be on the roost total?

If anyone has a picture of roosts in a coop that hold 25 or more chickens we would love to see a picture. THANKS

here is the back wall were we want to put the roosts

 

[professor-yellow]

They will want to roost to the highest point. So before the nest boxes go in you can start them out low. i have a pile of 8x16 cinderblock and a pile of 1.5x1.5 grape stakes. When the chicks come out of the brooder and into the coop I start the roosting bars about 8 inches of the ground then move higher and higher. Next step is a fram with two uprights then cross members for them to roost one that I lean to the wall, maybe a bar every 1.5 feet so they can hop up to subsequent bars.

Typically you will see they want to "cuddle" on the bar, so about a foot of bar is what they use. For final design, I plan 1,5 foot length of bar for every bird and spaced 1.5 feet apart. Have it the highest point they can roost so they wont be using the nest boxes for roosting places. I make sure I have extra space and bar so they can play on them. seems they like that but ultimately depends on space in the coop.

 

[patandchickens]

Canonical advice is at least 10" of roost space per chicken -- for 25 birds, that would be roughly 20' of roost. Or more if you have the space and ambition and want to give them the option of sorting thmselves out more widely.

With an eight foot wall, you might do 3 or 4 rungs of roosts, graduated like the rungs of a leany ladder. The rungs should probably be at least 18" apart horizontally (that is, as you look down on them from the ceiling).

Don't put the highest one too near the back wall, esp. since you have windows on it - don't want poo on there.

Nice coop!

Pat

 

[speckledhen]

This one works great. Each rung is 4' long. The first four top ones came from a heavy duty pallet and the lower ones are plain 2x4s, all sanded and oiled (leave time for the oil to soak in, though. Makes cleanup easier) Great coop!

 

[Dilly]

Speckled? Is this a ladder or the roost?

I assume it is a ladder, so where is the roost?

 

[speckledhen]

That is the roost. They roost on all the rungs of the ladder, but mostly on the top four. I'm not exactly sure what the idea is you have in your head of what a roost is, Dilly, LOL. This is a good one for large standard breeds so they do not have to jump down from heights that would cause leg injuries and bumblefoot.

 

[Dilly]

Well Honestly I thought the perches would be further apart so they do not poop on one another. I thought of a roost having a poop bin under it. making the roost directly above.

I guess since I have known I was going with a poop bin that I never thought of using a ladder as a roost.

Thanks.

 

[speckledhen]

My original coop did have a roost pit in it, but we came through that wall to add on to the coop and with that many birds, it was easier to make a ladder roost. Oh, they don't poop on each other at all. these are a foot apart.
Here is my original roost pit with a clean out door on the back of the coop:

 

[Flyman39]

Those are some NICE chicken houses! I love the 2nd type of roost with the cleanout box. Did you have any trouble with the hardware cloth blocking up?? The 1st one looks like my roosts. I simply raise it up and tie it to the ceiling and shovel it out. Very Nice!!

 

[speckledhen]

We did have trouble and changed the lid to that green garden fencing with 1" holes. Worked beautifully! And it was softer on their feet, too. Then we added on and the window over the roost pit became the door between the two sections. Here's the plastic fencing on the roost pit lid: