Roosting drama

[LyndallA]

I have 14 healthy hens, about half are laying. Have the usual pecking order that seems related to age.I built a big roosting ladder with plenty of space on top for all, and plenty of room (and space btw) on second highest bar. Roost bars made out of 1.5-2” diameter tree branches. Drama: only the three oldest hens roost on the top bar, five huddle together on top of a plastic shelving unit, six fly straight up to roost on a rafter! Should I rebuild the ladder so there’s more ‘top bars’? Should I get rid of shelving unit? Should I stop worrying about it? Maybe related to roosting stress on rafter(?): somebody roosting on ladder has been laying leather eggs for the past few days…help?

 

[DobieLover]

The soft shelled eggs should be addressed by ensuring all active layers have access to free choice oyster shell. If she is a pullet and just started laying and you can ID her, give her a calcium citrate with vitamin D tablet every 12 hours for 7 days to help her along until her reproductive system fully matures.

I would discourage birds from roosting too high as the higher they roost, the more space they need to land injury free and that is very difficult to do in a coop full of other birds and obstacles. Remember that chickens are ground birds and are heavy bodied. They can also develop bumble foot infections by injuring their feet on landing.

I prefer to have all my roost space at the same height over poop boards as it reduces the amount of drama at roost time. How you manage the roost space depends on how many birds you are housing in the coop. It should never be more than 1 LF bird to 3.5 sq ft and that is typically considered a bit tight. Offering as close to 1 linear foot of roost space per bird gives enough space for everyone to find a spot next to someone that likes them so they aren't pecked at until the offender either can't see well enough to do it or drives off the bird next to them.

 

[LyndallA]

Thank you! Never thought about difficulty landing from rafter. Will reconfigure roost bars. Been wanting to put planks and insulation on rafters for winter anyway