Roost question -placement

[Miriahbrown]

Sounds like a good plan! @rosemarythyme is right, what was I thinking? Yes, it's 15" between roosts, not 12". I think one 8' bar and one 4' crossbar would be plenty for 10 chickens - they do need only 1-ft roosting space per bird. Keep in mind their landing space and the size of your birds. Good luck!

Follow up question! I made a support today to add the 8ft bar on the side and it comes out this far over the opening of my clean out door. I made it to where I can set the bar into the bracket and remove the roost bar to clean and open up space when we need to get in the coop. However.. this might make it impossible for my husband to fit inside (unsure if that needs to be required).

Does that seem oddly arranged to have the door blocked like that?

My other option is as follows - remove my middle roost bar from my prior setup (allows for 22 inches between the two back bars). And then I can add the 3rd bar further forward from the new middle one. That allows 18 inches between the middle and that bar and it would be right beyond my run cutout door. I took a picture to show the two and the third is on the floor where it would be.

I would be lowering all 3 roosting bars to 18 inches high so they can get on more easily.
Thoughts on which way you would go?
@BarnyardChaos and @rosemarythyme

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Thank you for the updated pics! I have a 4x8 "nursery" coop, but yours surely does look bigger than mine. LOL probably because yours is clean and mine isn't! Maybe mine isn't as big as I thought? Very possible. I *assumed* the floor was made of a single sheet of 4x8 plywood, but I didn't build it, my husband did. He very likely could have used a smaller piece. Now I'll need to go measure to put my mind at ease. At any rate, I only keep 2-5 week old brooder chicks in there, so it's fine.

Now, yours... I'm not sure which way I would go! They're both very GOOD options.

I love your first option, except for that bracket blocking the door. That's going to be a headache (or knee-ache LOL) for you when cleaning out. Always in the way. So I have an idea ..... how about making that bracket support *hinged* where it swivels against the wall when you need to?

Like... Remove it, add a vertical piece of 2x4 or 1x4 to the bracket so it's in a triangle shape, then add hinges to one side of the vertical piece and attach that to the wall of the coop. (Might need to add a similar scrap of wood on the wall of the coop where the hinges attach.) When you need to, lift the roost bar off the bracket, and swivel the bracket so it's against the wall and out of your way. Would that be doable?

The 2nd option is a good one too, at 18" from the floor and spread so far apart, the birds will have plenty of room to jump up and hop down. Just make sure the front 2 roosting bars are removable for cleaning. BTDT.

As an afterthought - option 3 - you could remove the middle bar, and place two crossbars on top of the front and back bars on either side, from the front roost bar to the back roost bar (not extending out), so all 4 bars are in a rectangle shape. This would give the chickens a 'bridge' from one bar to the next. Also removable when needed. Mine use their 'bridges' all the time to shuffle positions.

Now what do you think?

 

[ShotgunDog]

We are finishing up our coop for our 3 wk chicks. I started to do the roosting bars today following guidelines I'd read online and then started to doubt myself partway through. I would appreciate feedback.

We have an 8x4 coop. The front wall is 5ft tall, the back wall is 4ft tall. We have cutouts with hardware cloth high up on the walls for ventilation and I'm trying to keep the roosts below that so they aren't too drafty or cold in winter. I am using wood to make a holder for the roost so that the roost bars are removable and I can take them out and clean them.

The roosts are in the back half of the coop so they don't go over the door to their run (it's in the front half). Also, we plan to add nesting boxes on the back wall, but that won't be until later since they won't need that right away anyways. Figure they'll get used to the roosts before we add those in. They already sleep on a roost in the brooder.

Each roost is about 30 inches off the floor. If I go higher it'll be quite cool in winter. I'm using 2x4s with the flat part up. I made 3 roosts because we have 10 chickens and I wanted each chicken to have 10-12 inches width and the two bars aren't technically enough if I want that much space (saw that recommended on here). We have 3 buff orps, 4 Australorps, and 3 barred rocks. So, some bigger ladies when full size.

When I read online, I saw to space them at least 12 inches apart.. however, when I placed them, I realized I didn't account for the width of each bar and simply marked 12 inches apart on the wall.. with 3 roosts, I don't think they can actually get to the back two roosts because there are about 11 inches of space between the bars.. is this ok? Will they get on the first bar and easily hop to the others? Or do I need to take away the middle roost and figure something else?

I haven't added the rest of the pieces to the edges (I have 1.5 inch pieces to place along the sides of the bottom piece that will frame in the roosts so I can set them in it to rest and be removed from).

I couldn't put the roosts in on the side walls (the 8 ft walls) though that's what I originally wanted to do. To put them 16-18 inches off the wall so it isn't covered in poop, it made the roost pretty central in the coop.. and I couldn't accommodate two roosts easily that way

Where in GA are you? We are also in GA. We built our pen/coop ourselves as well and I am pleased with the results. Our coop is 8x6 and tall enough to stand in. We have windows with plexiglass that we can slide to.open, or just remove, as well as ventilation at the top. We built the highest roost to accommodate all 10 of our girls, but they can hop up and down as they wish. Because the nesting boxes are in the coop, I just needed the perch to be lower than the roosts. They seem happy.

 

[ShotgunDog]

Where in GA are you? We are also in GA. We built our pen/coop ourselves as well and I am pleased with the results. Our coop is 8x6 and tall enough to stand in. We have windows with plexiglass that we can slide to.open, or just remove, as well as ventilation at the top. We built the highest roost to accommodate all 10 of our girls, but they can hop up and down as they wish. Because the nesting boxes are in the coop, I just needed the perch to be lower than the roosts. They seem happy.View attachment 3658665

Oh, I forgot to add: we painted the roosts with outdoor paint and made them removable for easy cleaning.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I think one 8' bar and one 4' crossbar would be plenty for 10 chickens - they do need only 1-ft roosting space per bird.

Also don't be surprised that after giving your birds all these roost options, that they all jam onto 2 roosts lol. I have 2 roosts and I get 9 birds jammed onto a single 5 1/2' roost every night.

I love your first option, except for that bracket blocking the door. That's going to be a headache (or knee-ache LOL) for you when cleaning out. Always in the way. So I have an idea ..... how about making that bracket support *hinged* where it swivels against the wall when you need to?

The 2nd option is a good one too, at 18" from the floor and spread so far apart, the birds will have plenty of room to jump up and hop down. Just make sure the front 2 roosting bars are removable for cleaning. BTDT.

As an afterthought - option 3 - you could remove the middle bar, and place two crossbars on top of the front and back bars on either side, from the front roost bar to the back roost bar (not extending out), so all 4 bars are in a rectangle shape.

I think any of these 3 can possibly work.

With option 1 hinging it is a great idea, I've also seen ones hinged up from the roof that fold up and out of the way. As far as your husband fitting in the coop... Admittedly I have my entire set up built so *I* can comfortably fit, which means my hubby (a foot taller) doesn't quite fit in the run for example. But I'm the one doing all the cleaning and setting up everything. So something to consider if re-doing the roosts again sounds like a hassle.

Option 2 might be the easiest mainly because it's most similar to the layout you already have.

Option 3 might be a little short on space depending on how it lays out exactly, only because a portion of each corners isn't usable space since obviously birds can't overlap.

 

[PoleFarm]

It might be easier to make a cross shaped perch, the longest perch going the length and a short one going the width. ir one long and two short on either end.
Yours appear to be too close together.
Also, plexiglass or shower curtain to put over the windows in the winter, as they are not quite high enough to avoid breezes. Or lower the roosts.
I love that paint color.

Plexiglass I'd considered. Shower curtains will stop the draft too? That would be amazing. Thanks!

 

[ShotgunDog]

Plexiglass I'd considered. Shower curtains will stop the draft too? That would be amazing. Thanks!

The only thing I would be concerned about with shower curtains, is that chickens peck...a LOT. Until my chicks were close to laying age, I had the nesting boxes covered with commercial-grade trash can liners (very thick). They pecked at it a good bit at first, probably just out of curiosity and to investigate it. But they did manage to peck some holes in it (and I am betting even ate a small bit of the plastic). That's just something to consider--if they can peck holes in it, they likely will (to a point).

 

[PoleFarm]

The only thing I would be concerned about with shower curtains, is that chickens peck...a LOT. Until my chicks were close to laying age, I had the nesting boxes covered with commercial-grade trash can liners (very thick). They pecked at it a good bit at first, probably just out of curiosity and to investigate it. But they did manage to peck some holes in it (and I am betting even ate a small bit of the plastic). That's just something to consider--if they can peck holes in it, they likely will (to a point).

Mm, good point. Back to the draft flanges on the doors. Thanks.

 

[nuthatched]

Plexiglass I'd considered. Shower curtains will stop the draft too? That would be amazing. Thanks!

The liners or even fabric ones will be fine. And no, as long as you don't have it tight to coop, they can't eat it.

 

[Dominique King]

From what I have seen in the picture is that you are using boards as roosts which is not comfortable for them. I would suggest using wooden dowels or smoothing off the edges of 2x2 to make it more comfortable. I use 2x2 with the edges smoothed out. When my first pullets 3 years ago laid by the coop door for the first week and a half until they used the roosts I mentioned to you.