Roosting, and sleeping

[Dazz172]

The important thing with roost bars to encourage chickens to use them, is they should be higher than the nest box. So if nest box is floor level, 1' above would be ok, if nest box is 3' up, the roost would be 4' or more up. This is why I suggested moving them above the nest box somehow, if possible.

The vents are too small and insufficient - more ventilation would not only provide more natural light, but allows moisture to escape and relieves general stuffiness inside. At minimum you want 1 sq ft per chicken or 10% of floor space, whichever is greater. In hotter climates, more is better. I know it's hard finding good ways to add vents in a smaller coop, but maybe replacing the top planks where the vent holes currently are with wire mesh would be a start.

Ok hmm the roosting bars are a touch higher than nest box but with nest full of straw brings about even, I have just moved into this house and the chicken coop and run was already all set up with the previous owner having chickens and he loved his girls so I was pretty confident it was all set up right and am just running with his set up at the moment , i like the idea of the wire mesh at the top I will defo look into that and at a quick look I'm not sure if possible to make roosting bars higher because they run towards nest box so are limited to adjust much higher and can't put in other direction cuz would block doorwayway But I will do some more investigation tomorrow. Thankyou for all ur help. I've just put girls in to sleep up on there roosting bars and blocked nest box off with cardboard and locked them in, I will need to do this For a few nights won't I??

 

[aart]

I will need to do this For a few nights won't I??

Yeppers!

@rosemarythyme had summed up the situation nicely.

I'll ask, how handy are you?
Raising the roost in the center, and maybe getting rid of the other one, could be pretty simple. How many inches long are the roosts?

Also...
Welcome to BYC!

Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!

 

[Dazz172]

Yeppers!

@rosemarythyme had summed up the situation nicely.

I'll ask, how handy are you?
Raising the roost in the center, and maybe getting rid of the other one, could be pretty simple. How many inches long are the roosts?

Also...
Welcome to BYC!

Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!
View attachment 1587867

Hi aart, great to meet u, I'm in NSW, Australia , I have amended my profile so it shows. Ok so I'm pretty handy, there is 2 roost bars and they are each just under 21 inches long , there are 2 doorways leading into roost 1 for the chickens with a ramp and a bigger door so able to get in Better to clean and remove bottom tray so these 2 doorways kinda limit the direction I can put roost bars I can move roost bars higher but only about an inch- inch n a half, which would put roost about nest box, I will attach some pics that I took this morn which can hopefully give u a better idea, bear in mind the nest box is full of straw which makes it seem higher in photo, also I'd like to know ur thoughts on the vent holes , I like the idea of the wire mesh as rosemarythyme suggested but I was just thinking last night that would make it pretty easy for rain to get in and sometimes the storms here can get pretty wild. On a another note the girls used there nest box this morn to lay eggs and got 4 eggs today which is a first , usually only 3 a day which is 1 egg per chicken but there was 4 waiting for me this morn so that's good. Look forward to ur response.

 

[Dazz172]

I have gone and bought these for the vents , will these be ok for vents????

 

[aart]

Those vents will work OK, best to put them where the weather may hit them.
I'd add another larger vent at top of the wall between coop and run,
cut a hole ~3-4" (8-10cm)high and as wide as possible and cover with 1/2" hardware cloth.

Good pics!
Those roosts are tough, the spacing between is tight.
This is the best pre-fab modification I've ever seen,
might work well for your situation:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1134399/help-hens-roosting-in-nest-boxes/10#post_17749535

 

[Dazz172]

Those vents will work OK, best to put them where the weather may hit them.
I'd add another larger vent at top of the wall between coop and run,
cut a hole ~3-4" (8-10cm)high and as wide as possible and cover with 1/2" hardware cloth.

Good pics!
Those roosts are tough, the spacing between is tight.
This is the best pre-fab modification I've ever seen,
might work well for your situation:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1134399/help-hens-roosting-in-nest-boxes/10#post_17749535

Hi, sorry did u mean put them where the weather WONT hit them or u did mean put them where the weather will hit? And in regards to the other vent hole u mentioned so I cut a hole and cover with a hardware cloth, is that to soak up moisture in the air?
Yeh the roost are a bit of a doozy , and I agree the space between the roosts is tight but as u can see from pic not much can be done about that, do u think that coop has been designed for 3 chickens?? I have 3 Rhode Island reds. I really like that idea u showed for the roosts have gave me a lot of ideas thankyou

 

[Birdsong 82]

The hardware cloth is placed over the vents to keep predators out. But having more ventilation allows moisture not to build up inside your coop. If there is not enough ventilation moisture can build up inside the coop which is not good for the chickens. I’m not sure if it was designed for three chickens. What are the dimensions of the coop?

 

[perchie.girl]

You got some heavy hitters coming to your aid... VBG and a Belated Welcome from San Diego.

Love the link you put in Aart.... most eggcellent.

deb

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hi, sorry did u mean put them where the weather WONT hit them or u did mean put them where the weather will hit? And in regards to the other vent hole u mentioned so I cut a hole and cover with a hardware cloth, is that to soak up moisture in the air?
Yeh the roost are a bit of a doozy , and I agree the space between the roosts is tight but as u can see from pic not much can be done about that, do u think that coop has been designed for 3 chickens?? I have 3 Rhode Island reds. I really like that idea u showed for the roosts have gave me a lot of ideas thankyou

I believe what aart meant was that you want the vent guards placed where the weather would be an issue (if you're concerned with rain shooting into an opening). If ventilation is well placed on a coop, you'd be surprised at how little wind or rain gets in (and thus no need to cover with anything other than wire mesh). Ventilation lets moisture out, lets fresh air in.

Not sure what to suggest as far as roosts now that I have a better look at it, because while there is a little room above the nest box, it does not look like enough headspace to put the bars all the way above them. And if you put them lower than that then it blocks up everything in the middle. Might have to just live with them as they are, and continue to block the nest boxes at night until they understand they shouldn't sleep inside them.

Hard to say how many chickens that coop is meant to hold. The general guideline here is 4 sq ft per bird inside the coop but that doesn't look like 12 sq ft inside. In this case I think they can make do with the space in there, but the layout and lack of ventilation are bigger issues. When the roosts are that low, there's really no actual floor space at all, so even if they want to be in there, there isn't room.

 

[Dazz172]

I believe what aart meant was that you want the vent guards placed where the weather would be an issue (if you're concerned with rain shooting into an opening). If ventilation is well placed on a coop, you'd be surprised at how little wind or rain gets in (and thus no need to cover with anything other than wire mesh). Ventilation lets moisture out, lets fresh air in.

Not sure what to suggest as far as roosts now that I have a better look at it, because while there is a little room above the nest box, it does not look like enough headspace to put the bars all the way above them. And if you put them lower than that then it blocks up everything in the middle. Might have to just live with them as they are, and continue to block the nest boxes at night until they understand they shouldn't sleep inside them.

Hard to say how many chickens that coop is meant to hold. The general guideline here is 4 sq ft per bird inside the coop but that doesn't look like 12 sq ft inside. In this case I think they can make do with the space in there, but the layout and lack of ventilation are bigger issues. When the roosts are that low, there's really no actual floor space at all, so even if they want to be in there, there isn't room.

Thankyou, I'm gonna get into the ventilation issue tomorrow and gonna buy a couple would vents and place in other spots aswell, is it possible to have too many vents?? I'm just thinking about winter when it get s really cold. Yeh the space inside without nest box is just over 2ft x just under 2ft, I'm going to raise the roosts that extra 1 n half Inch higher which will still leave plants head room and also get them just that much higher and will b fair bit higher that nest box too not goin allnthat much higher but it's better than nothing