Roosting bar questions -- dimensions

[Poppy Putentake]

Hi all, hoping to tap into all the wisdom here.

What would good measurements be for a "ladder" type set of roosting bars?

How far apart should they be in the horizontal dimension? The vertical dimension? How high should the lowest one be?

If a roosting bar is parallel to the wall, how far away should it be?

Poop boards -- how big should they be, and how far under the roosts?

If a single roosting bar with a poop board is next to a wall, how wide should the poop board be and how far from the wall should the roost be?

 

[RojoMarz]

We have a Poop board with roost. The board is 24” wide with the roost centered on the board. The roost is about 12" off the board.

 

[Poppy Putentake]

We have a Poop board with roost. The board is 24” wide with the roost centered on the board. The roost is about 12" off the board.

View attachment 3483596

Thanks for your reply -- t looks, though, like the roosting bar is actually closer to the edge than to the wall -- is that so? Do the droppings all end up on the board or do some eend up on the floor?

Also, I like the two-tier nesting boxes -- do the hens use the lower or the upper ones more?

 

[RojoMarz]

Thanks for your reply -- t looks, though, like the roosting bar is actually closer to the edge than to the wall -- is that so? Do the droppings all end up on the board or do some eend up on the floor?

Also, I like the two-tier nesting boxes -- do the hens use the lower or the upper ones more?

No, the roost bar is centered. Could be the angle of the photo throwing it off. In this pic, look at the circled area. It may show the dimensions better. I do not get poop on the floor unless the one hen that always roosts on the poop board tray edge roosts backwards. She normally roosts so poop is on the board.

We actually have too many nest boxes, for the number of hens we have. But, yes, I do get eggs in the lower boxes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What would good measurements be for a "ladder" type set of roosting bars? How far apart should they be in the horizontal dimension? The vertical dimension?

12" is a good dimension for both. If they are 12" apart horizontally they are not likely to poop on a chicken sleeping below them. If they are 12" apart vertically you wind up with a ladder they can sort of hop up so they don't need to spread their wings and fly up. That gives you a 45 degree slope which is reasonably efficient as far as using space.

How high should the lowest one be?

So they can hop up from the coop floor. About 12" up from the top of the bedding is a good target.

If a roosting bar is parallel to the wall, how far away should it be?

12". That gives them room to sleep on the roost without crowding against it. That should keep the poop off of the wall but you can get an occasional "energetic" hen.

Poop boards -- how big should they be,

The edges should be 12" past the center of the roost. That should catch all of the poop.

and how far under the roosts?

Enough distance so you can clean the board. How do you plan to clean it? I scrape mine with a garden hoe (with a short broken handle so I don't knock out my window when I scrape) so I need maybe 6" of vertical clearance. Mine is 36" wide as I have two parallel roosts. Some people use scoops or some other method to clean. Your cleaning method will determine what you need for access.

If a single roosting bar with a poop board is next to a wall, how wide should the poop board be and how far from the wall should the roost be?

Same as I said above, the roost 12" from the wall and the board 12" wider than the roost.

 

[arazla]

12" is a good dimension for both. If they are 12" apart horizontally they are not likely to poop on a chicken sleeping below them. If they are 12" apart vertically you wind up with a ladder they can sort of hop up so they don't need to spread their wings and fly up. That gives you a 45 degree slope which is reasonably efficient as far as using space.


So they can hop up from the coop floor. About 12" up from the top of the bedding is a good target.


12". That gives them room to sleep on the roost without crowding against it. That should keep the poop off of the wall but you can get an occasional "energetic" hen.


The edges should be 12" past the center of the roost. That should catch all of the poop.


Enough distance so you can clean the board. How do you plan to clean it? I scrape mine with a garden hoe (with a short broken handle so I don't knock out my window when I scrape) so I need maybe 6" of vertical clearance. Mine is 36" wide as I have two parallel roosts. Some people use scoops or some other method to clean. Your cleaning method will determine what you need for access.


Same as I said above, the roost 12" from the wall and the board 12" wider than the roost.

Would you mind posting a picture of your set-up? It seems we did ours all wrong.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My set-up was totally different from yours. I had tree limbs all at 5 feet height, no ladder. I lost all my photos in a computer crash and have moved to a new location so no photos. Dad had a ladder roost but that building has been gone for over 20 years.

 

[BonnieBlue]

Hi, I am bringing this thread back because it is in line with the questions I have.

I just got the shed I had designed and built finished, and now I need to start the interior layout. I have all of my layout done, except for a few vertical dimensions.

The coop is walk in, but the walls are not terribly high because it is actually under the overhang that comes off of a barn. I figured between sun/heat (metal roof on coop so it won't be absorbing a lot of sun heat even tho it is also white) and extra storm protection actually under the overhang would be good. The run is under the rest of the overhang, which will give me a 16x60 run. But I digress.

On the interior, because my side walls are a bit lower, the windows for ventilation are only 38" from the coop floor, so I need to lower all of the vertical dimensions.

Question 1: The poopboard is 30 inches wide. The roost center is 12 inches from the front, 18 inches from the back wall to hopefully give extra clearance for poop splatters. How much lower than the bottom of the windows do I need to go to avoid (as much as possible) with my roost bar? Is 8" enough? Will that hopefully keep poop from flying into the windows? I am hoping the extra depth will help, so not sure on the vertical distance.

Question 2: Because of the lowered poop board, my nesting box will need to be lower. I don't want it on the floor low, and I know I will be bending over, but I am planning on getting old with this coop. Is 4" vertical distance between the floor of the nesting box and poop board ok? Is 12 inches vertical distance between nesting box floor and the roost enough height distance to deter hens from sleeping in a nesting box?

My primary concern was ventilation so I wanted windows (even lower ones, in addition to vents and the exhaust fans I will have. But that is making the vertical layout challenging.

Edit to add: Right now I have 2 Easter Eggers. Next up will be New Hampshires. Not what will come after that, but they will all be in the 5-6 pound range. No bantys and no large breeds.