Roosting Bar ?

[runnermom]

I'm redoing a 7x9 old wooden playhouse into a coop. Going to put in a Poop Board along the back wall with a roosting bar above. Do I need a ladder to reach the roosting bar, or will my girls just fly right up there? Right now they are in a prefab piece of garbage, and don't really have a roosting bar. Also, what size wood is best for a roosting bar?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

What breeds are you keeping and will they be wing clipped?

 

[runnermom]

What breeds are you keeping and will they be wing clipped?

No, not wing clipped. I have a Delaware, EE, Golden Laced Wyandotte, Welsummer, Barred Rock and Speckled Sussex.

 

[andreanar]

I use a ramp to get up to the roost bar, but some of my chickens prefer to jump/fly, I have big heavy breeds too.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Ramp depends on how high up the roost bar is. Mine is about 2' up and my girls just fly up. A ramp can help in the beginning while the little ones are still learning to roost, I had one in there until they were maybe 10 weeks old.

For roost bars, some people use 2x4s or 2x3s with sanded down edges, some use tree branches with any rough bits sanded down. I use branches since I have a lot of them available and I feel it's a more natural choice for a bird.

 

[aart]

Ramp depends on how high up the roost bar is.

Also depends on how much room they might have to land safely when flying down without crashing into a wall or something else.

My roost/board is 2' wide and about 3 feet high,
but coop is only 6' wide, so tight landing area.
I have ramps, some jump to floor, some use ramp.
Ramps go to platform that is 16" high.
Nest bank is to left, end of 2x2 perch can be seen.
I changed that 2x2 perch to 2x4 as some of my bigger birds
had trouble navigating it.