Roost Questions

[BY Bob]

It's funny; I was just observing my birds the other evening in the coop and I decided I needed to make a change to the roost setup. One of the most important lessons I have learned is that you are never done adapting your coop to meet either their needs or yours.

My coop and roost height were designed around small birds as I had an alpha leghorn leading my flock and had mostly had leghorns to that point. As jthornton said,

Different breeds have different requirements...

I now have a lavender orpington. She has trouble jumping down. I need to lower my roost as she tumbles when she lands.

Like Alaskan said,

You don't need a ramp, you could use just a step

I have a small table/step for her to get up but she cannot get down gracefully.

And ridgerunner gave great advice,

But try to not let the pursuit of perfection get in the way of good enough.

I spent years designing my own coop and a little more than a year later and I am already adjusting the roost I find there is always something that needs tweeking. That is not bad; it's good. Keeps it interesting. Watch your flock and they show you what can be improved and most of all enjoy the process.

 

[feathermaid]

I build my coops off the ground and supply a ramp into the coop. I think this gives the chickens an impression that they are roosting well above ground which is part of what I imagine is important to them.

This makes sense and I totally agree... at least until my chickens just proved me wrong recently. My coop is also raised (about 20") with an entry ramp, and inside I have a little ladder to the poop tray (another 20" high) and the roosts are 8" above that. Then one day I decided to add some extra perches out in the run, the highest being 4' off the ground. A few nights later, all my girls were roosting on the high perch in the run instead of in the coop, so I had to move them all inside one by one and let me say... they were not happy. They did that for a few nights until I just removed the high perch outside, then they all finally went back to the coop like normal.

Now I don't know if I should feel bad for taking away their favorite roosting spot. I built the run to be just a secure as the coop, but it's very cold and breezy out there! I wonder if I should put the perch back in the summer?

Anyway, it seems like chickens will eventually somehow let you know what they like best, or at least make do with what they have. And I don't think a little experimenting now and then ever hurts, roosts aren't that difficult to switch around.

 

[Shadrach]

This makes sense and I totally agree... at least until my chickens just proved me wrong recently. My coop is also raised (about 20") with an entry ramp, and inside I have a little ladder to the poop tray (another 20" high) and the roosts are 8" above that. Then one day I decided to add some extra perches out in the run, the highest being 4' off the ground. A few nights later, all my girls were roosting on the high perch in the run instead of in the coop, so I had to move them all inside one by one and let me say... they were not happy. They did that for a few nights until I just removed the high perch outside, then they all finally went back to the coop like normal.

Now I don't know if I should feel bad for taking away their favorite roosting spot. I built the run to be just a secure as the coop, but it's very cold and breezy out there! I wonder if I should put the perch back in the summer?

Anyway, it seems like chickens will eventually somehow let you know what they like best, or at least make do with what they have. And I don't think a little experimenting now and then ever hurts, roosts aren't that difficult to switch around.

Well, one could interpret their behavior as a protest about being made to live in coops; a protest I would be pleased to support. Those here that can get up trees do, and all my pleading and entreaties regarding the benefits of coop living are met by occasional deliveries of gravity accelerated poop.
From what I understand form my in depth discussion with the professional tree huggers here, their argument goes like this: we are chickens and before you humans started putting us in prisons we roosted in trees. You humans may think coops are wonderful and believe you know what's best for us but up here we feel safe. In the event of a predator attack the likelihood is only one of us will die, whereas in your coop, we can't escape because you lock us in and many more will probably die.
I couldn't find a decent argument for that one.
Being smart, they have of course read BYC and commented on the need for adequate ventilation. Of course when they mentioned that it would be hard to conceive of a better ventilated spot than a branch of a tree, I found once again I didn't have a satisfactory response and hastily avoided the next gravity fueled deposit.
The senior hen of the pro tree huggers invited me onto the branch suggesting I bring a magnifying glass and checked the branch to see if I could find any mites. Of course, while I appreciated the scientific basis of her argument that particular branch would not have supported my weight so I had to refuse the offer.
During the course of the discussion the entire tribe pitched in with a number of arguments, none of which I could find fault with despite my academic qualifications and considerable research.
In the end, my lack of eloquence and rational reasoning failed me and I had to resort to the 'I want you in the coops because that's what I want because it makes me feel better'.
Naturally enough this met with hoots of derision and further gravity fed missiles.
I had in the end have to agree terms which involved considerable expense in the way of fish and walnuts.

The short answer is if you want your fowl to roost in coops don't put roosts in their run.

 

[aart]

I now have a lavender orpington. She has trouble jumping down. I need to lower my roost as she tumbles when she lands.

This is why I added ramps and a wider nest perch....clumsy, stumbling, bumbling Light Brahmas.

 

[feathermaid]

The short answer is if you want your fowl to roost in coops don't put roosts in their run.

Haha yes, I seem to have figured that out, but not with as much entertainment factor as you! The lower ones are still there for some daytime hangouts though. And we don't have mature trees on my tiny plot of suburbia, so no other temptations available for them to taunt me with.

I wouldn't mind letting them roost in the run if it weren't for the terrible cold wind and sideways rain. The coop has open ventilation along the length of 3 sides above the roosts with plenty of roof overhang. Still cold in there, but dry and draft free. Just want to keep my girls healthy.

 

[Shadrach]

Haha yes, I seem to have figured that out, but not with as much entertainment factor as you! The lower ones are still there for some daytime hangouts though. And we don't have mature trees on my tiny plot of suburbia, so no other temptations available for them to taunt me with.

I wouldn't mind letting them roost in the run if it weren't for the terrible cold wind and sideways rain. The coop has open ventilation along the length of 3 sides above the roosts with plenty of roof overhang. Still cold in there, but dry and draft free. Just want to keep my girls healthy.

I'm in touch with a guy in Australia who built his run around some trees and the chickens roost on the branches. He also built nesting boxes in the trees and they do use them when the weather gets hot and windy mainly and for some egg laying. It's a very big run and he has netting over the trees!

 

[weezerfish]

Lots of good info in this thread. I hadn't paid much attention to the roosting situation since I got my new batch of birds. My coop is 48 inches wide and I have two roosts that span that distance. They are at different heights and, after reading this thread I've realized they may be too close together. So I went out two nights ago to check and see how effectively they (I have ten 8 month old layers) are sharing the 96 inches of roost space. I was a little surprised at what I found. Either they have no concerns over personal space, they are all too stubborn to give in and take a spot on the lower roost, or the lower roost is a really bad place to be. Hoping it's not the last, as I don't have many options short of building a bigger coop (wifey won't go for that) or passing several of my ladies on to a friend. We eat darn near all the eggs they lay except for a dozen every now and then that my parents get, so I'd like to hang on to them all.

What do you all think? Am I headed for trouble as they get a little older and the weather warms? This was taken shortly after dusk. I need to get out there before the sun comes up and see what things look like after a night of maneuvering.

 

[Shadrach]

[QUOTEor the lower roost is a really bad place to be. [/QUOTE]
I supose it rather depends on how much you like getting covered in poop.

 

[50-45-1]

Your roost set up will have everything to do with your setup and avaliable space.
When we built our coop, its a walk in 10 X 13. We made an enclosed roost section 6X6 with a cement floor for easy cleaning. This is a smaller space for retension of heat during the nights in winter. It has a window i open in summer for fresh air. We put in ladder type roosts, removable for easy cleaning.
Look, you are always going to have somebody on the pecking order who is lowest and may not be allowed on the one roost with the others and providing them a spot other than the floor is a good plan.
Otherwise they may have to choose the windowsill, the edge of the nest boxes, the feeder or outside somewhere.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What do you all think? Am I headed for trouble as they get a little older and the weather warms? This was taken shortly after dusk. I need to get out there before the sun comes up and see what things look like after a night of maneuvering.

How far are those roosts separated horizontally? That will determine if the ones on top poop on the lower ones. I don't see any poop on that lower one but the chickens take up more room so you may still not have enough horizontal separation.

You have a version of a ladder roost. People have successfully been using ladder roosts for a long long time. As you can see most chickens tend to want to roost as high as they can. There are always exceptions but what you show is typical. The ones higher in the pecking order get to sleep wherever they want, the ones lower have to take what's left.

Not sure what your overall coop looks like but it looks like you can raise that lower roost if you want to or if the future shows you need to. Since they need enough room on the roost to get up there my guess is that they are using that lower roost as an access point to the top roost so they can just hop from the lower to the higher instead of having to have enough room to spread their wings and fly directly to the top one.