roost questions

[tstalker]

I live in upstate New York with cold winters

Currently building a coop to house my dozen chicks when they mature..Silver Laced Wyandotte and Buff Orpington

Read some articles on this forum but want to confirm some info. before I complete the interior of the coop

Roosts should be higher than the nest boxes........I have six nest boxes at 24" height from floor

My poop board will be 32" from floor with the roost 8" - 10" above the poop board making the roost board approx. 40 inches off the floor....I will be using Sweet PDZ powder

Because of my cold weather location, the 2 x 4 roost should be mounted "wide" side up....better for feet ?

lots of "flow thru" ventilation for the summer too with fold down screened window front and back

A 12 foot x 24 foot run

Questions:

Is the 8" - 10" roost height above the poop board OK ?

2 x 4 wide side up advantageous for cold weather conditions ?

Any other concerns for cold weather ?

any other summer ideas

Thanks

Tom

 

[henless]

I live in upstate New York with cold winters

Currently building a coop to house my dozen chicks when they mature..Silver Laced Wyandotte and Buff Orpington

Read some articles on this forum but want to confirm some info. before I complete the interior of the coop

Roosts should be higher than the nest boxes........I have six nest boxes at 24" height from floor

How big is your coop? Do you have enough room to get more chickens later? If not, then you really don't have to have that many nests. You can use 1 nest for 4-5 hens, so 3-4 nests would be plenty.

My poop board will be 32" from floor with the roost 8" - 10" above the poop board making the roost board approx. 40 inches off the floor....I will be using Sweet PDZ powder

Because of my cold weather location, the 2 x 4 roost should be mounted "wide" side up....better for feet?

lots of "flow thru" ventilation for the summer too with fold down screened window front and back

A 12 foot x 24 foot run

Questions:

Is the 8" - 10" roost height above the poop board OK ?

You really don't have to have it that high. Mine is about 4 or 5 inches above my poop board. This will give you more head room for your chickens.

2 x 4 wide side up advantageous for cold weather conditions ?

Yes. Gives them more support and they can sit and cover the feet with their body/feathers better.

Any other concerns for cold weather ?

Just make sure there are no breezes blowing on them while on the roost. They do need plenty of ventilation, but no breezes.

any other summer ideas

Lots of fresh air. If very hot, you can use fans, frozen fruit, frozen water bottles in their waterer.

Thanks

Tom

 

[tstalker]

Thanks

The coop is big enough to expand my flock

8 feet square x 7 feet high

anybody else with suggestions / ideas ?

 

[jetdog]

Thanks

The coop is big enough to expand my flock

8 feet square x 7 feet high

anybody else with suggestions / ideas ?

Sounds like you have everything under control and the plan sounds good, I would recommend using the sweet pdz in the granular form,it's what I use and I think it cuts down on the added dust.

 

[dheltzel]

Sounds to me like you have this right. I find some will roost on the front edge of the poop board, and most will use it as an intermediate stop on their way to the roost, so make the front edge sturdy enough to hold their weight.

I like to put "things I don't want poop on" under the poop boards - nestboxes, feed and/or water.

Definite yes on putting wide side up on the roosts. 2x4's are not as strong in the configuration, but that is not usually a problem for roosts, unless you are going with very long boards, then I'd add some supports. Also, make the roosts removable/replacable. They can get dirty over time and being able to remove them for cleaning or reversing them to put the clean side up, is a nice thing.

 

[tstalker]

dheltzel said:

Also, make the roosts removable/replacable. They can get dirty over time and being able to remove them for cleaning or reversing them to put the clean side up, is a nice thing.

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never thought of that...easy to do

good idea....thanks