roost question

[carolinasculpture]

Hi! We are planning to expand our little flock here in a couple of weeks and I was going to add another roost in the coop in preparation for when the new recruits are big enough to move in. I was thinking of the good old ladder style, but had a thought of a way to make it easier to move around inside the coop. Has anyone ever done the ladder style with the bottom against the wall and the top away from the wall? I couldn't find anything like this mentioned. Is there some obvious thing that I am missing? I know the poo would fall to cover the same footprint, but it would add a bit of space down low. Did I mention that I am short? Thanks for helping me think this through!

 

[Ema]

I plan on doing on exactly as you described and I think it will work really well, the reason I say this is because my friend has on in her in-barn coop too and loves it, she never trips on it lol....

but yes the poop falls right to the ground. and if you added poop boards it would defeat the purpose of having a reverse ladder roost. but she cleans her shavings once per week with some sort of scoop I can't remember what she calls it...lol...

 

[carolinasculpture]

Thanks! What sort of access did she put in so the hens could get up there? Do they just hop up from one rung to the next? Thanks again!

 

[elmo]

Ladder style roosts can create squabbling among the flock because everyone wants to be on the top rung. You do have to make sure there's enough width between the rungs so that the hens on top won't poop on the ones who end up having to roost lower down.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't do ladder roosts so I cannot help based on experience with them. I do find that if I am wearing a cap or hat, I tend to bump into things the height of my cap bill or higher. I just can't see it. You may find that a reverse ladder like that will cause you a few head bumps.

The recommendations I've seen on this site are minimums of one foot horizontal and one foot vertical separation for ladders. Supposedly this stops them from pooping on each other. I don't have the experience, so I can't say it actually works.

Mine will fly up four feet from the floor to get to my roosts, but I find most prefer using the top of my nest box as a launching point. It is about two feet high and maybe two to three feet back from the roosts. In the mornings they fly straight down to the coop floor.

 

[OkChickens]

I have Roosts that were straight across at one point but the 2x4 on the wall bowed. Here they are!

Nate

 

[THINGUM]

I have read somewhere on BYC that the reverse ladder type roosts keeps them from pooping on the wall (that was behind the ladder). But there is much more sentiment for roosts all the same height (and a small access ladder), as it minimizes squabbling. Roost height seems to vary anywhere between 20" and 5 feet. And the chx will get in the rafters if allowed. But the roosts are always higher than the nest boxes or the chx will sleep in the boxes, causing increased cleaning.