Roosting bar layout in new coop ?

[SurferchickinSB]

My coop is 4'x8' but is only 30" high from floor to peak and roof slopes down to 24" on the ends. So I have minimum head room, that's why the bars are only 6" off the floor.

Basically the coop sits 24" off the ground on 4x4 posts and the floor is a 4x8 sheet of plywood with 24"-30" walls with a 1:12 pitch steel roof.

Oh, I would think if that’s what they are given from the start and they are not used to roosting higher it should be fine. I think you just don’t want the nesting boxes at the same level because then they might start roosting in them and then they will dirty them up and poop in them.

 

[kyron4]

Will having the bars 6" higher than the nesting boxes be enough to keep them from roosting in the boxes ?

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Will having the bars 6" higher than the nesting boxes be enough to keep them from roosting in the boxes ?

Well, if I was you I would either cover the nesting boxes or not even put them in until they are going to lay eggs, that way they will already have established a pattern of getting on the roosting bars and will not sleep in the boxes. You don’t want them to start doing that.Cover the nesting boxes or do not put them in until they are 4 1/2 months old.I would just not put them in until they are going to lay that way they won’t even sit on them before hand.

 

[CindyinSD]

My nesting boxes are pretty high, though the roosts are (most of them) higher. I have one little pullet who likes to sleep in one of the high nests. I let her, because she’s the smallest and the others drive her away. I just flick the poops out when I open the doors for them in the morning. It’s not bad.

If you don’t want them in the boxes at night, you can hang a bit of old tarp or similar over the entrance to them and roll it up like a tent flap during the day. For eight, two boxes should be enough.

The roosts can be as high or low as they need to be. The chickens will roost in the highest spots they can reach, most dominant—highest spots. You’re supposed to have a foot of roost per standard-sized bird. I have 17 birds and 12’ of roost space in a ladder roost 4’ wide. They all (except the little one) mash up on the top two rungs—8’. So, 6” per chicken. They only use the bottom rung for hopping up and down.

If you had too small a space for roosts, they’d roost on the floor and be happy anyway. They like roosts though, and being high up provides a little safety, too.

Since you’re in Indiana, it would be helpful to put the broad side of the lumber up, so they can keep their toes from frostbite in winter (and “spring”) by sitting on them.

I would not run the roosts longways without adding a support in the middle of them. They’ll eventually sag if you do.

 

[kyron4]

Thanks, I plan on using 2x3's for roosts. They are 2 1/2" wide, will that work okay when the chickens are 8 to 12 weeks old ?

 

[CindyinSD]

2.5” will be fine. They’re not going to outgrow that... they just need to cover their little toes with feathers when they’re sleeping.