Roosting Bar Height

[MedSchlFarmers]

Our chicks are still in the garage in a brooder with a heat lamp because of freezing temps at night. All but the silkie sleep on the little roosting bar I have in their brooder. The others are 2 Barred Rocks, 1 Brown Leghorn, 2 Easter Eggers, 1 Black Sex Link, and 1 Lavender Orpington. They are 4.5-6.5 weeks old. I plan to move them to the coop in the next 2-3 weeks depending on weather. Our roosting bars are 3.5-4.5 feet off the ground. We have a ladder leading to the bars. Will they roost up there at 6-8 weeks of age? The coop is designed with hardware cloth along the bottom half and plywood along the top half to act as a wind barrier when they are roosting or laying on the other side of the coop. Is it too high? When I let them play in the coop/run on warmer days they do not climb the ladder. Their current little bar in the brooder is only about 4-6 inches off the ground. Thanks! (We can put plywood around the bottom half too on the roosting side of there coop and add lower bars if this is better, but then the bars would be lower than the nesting boxes. Below is
picture of the coop. It is now enclosed in a larger chain link fenced area that is 6 ft high where they will play during the day. The ladder to the bars is not in this picture.

 

[junebuggena]

Ramps work better than ladders, but I don't think you can get a ramp in that coop that would make the birds feel comfortable to use. You'll need to make the ramp at least twice as long as the floor to roost height. Also, the nesting boxes look to be at the same height as the roosts, which might invite them to sleep in the nest boxes instead of on the roosts.
The roosts look like they are a bit too narrow for adult birds.
And another issue I see is that there is no ventilation above roosting height.

 

[MedSchlFarmers]

OK. Thanks. It is a ramp, not a ladder, I used the wrong terminology. Makes sense that it may be too steep.

 

[MedSchlFarmers]

Is there not enough ventilation in the coop with the entire bottom being open? It is not sealed tight at the top either. It is waterproof but there is some space between roof and plywood.

 

[junebuggena]

Moisture as they exhale rises. As does ammonia. The openness around the bottom is good, but you need some ventilation above, as well.

 

[MedSchlFarmers]

Thanks! For anyone following, we raised the end of the ramp with an upright board at the bottom end to make the incline less steep. 2 of the 8 chicks jumped right up and ran to the top and played on the roosting bars for a bit. We may have to add another ramp to the ramp because the Orpington tried to jump to the ramp, but it seemed like she couldn't jump/fly high enough. She is the largest right now and oldest.