Roosting is too low what should I do

[kschicks2013]

Hi....I bought 2 chicken coops and we modified them so it turned into one larger coop. When I purchased them the box did not have sufficient pics showing the inside of the house. Well the roosting poles are not high at all...they are just off the floor above the poop trays. Due to the height of the house and taking into consideration their height....I don't think I can raise the roosts any higher....Any alternative suggestions on making up for this shoddy roost design? I was thinking about putting roosting poles in the run under the house so they will have privacy. Suggestions please. Thanks

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If the run is predator proof (i.e. Fort Knox) the roost under the coop will work or any covered space.
They don't care about privacy except when laying eggs. At dusk they want to go as high as possible to avoid predators.
The problem with a low roost in the coop is that they'll sleep in nest boxes rather than roost.
Another thing you can do is remove the roof, extend the walls higher and raise the roosts.
The problem with buying manufactured coops is that many are designed by people that don't know enough about chickens to provide enough space, ventilation or proper quarters.
Every manufactured coop I've seen grossly overestimates how many chickens will fit in there and are way under ventilated.

 

[kschicks2013]

Thanks for the quick reply....I totally agree with you on that comment about the manufacturers not knowing anything about what chickens need....If I knew that beforehand I wouldn't have purchased them, but I did so now I find myself modifying them to accommodate what the chickens require. I've had to drill holes at the top for added ventilation as well. I may just do that with the roof...thanks.....Yeah I thought that they would roost in the nest boxes with the way the roosting poles are......I'm going to put some roosting poles in the basement of the hen house so they are higher and they feel comfortable. I definitely do not recommend buying a pre-fab hen house.....unless all the design specs are correct. I've definitely modified mine so much that they wouldn't recognize their own product.

 

[Smangerer]

[FONT=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]It sounds like you have one of the coops I have which is the Cape cod or something. Please see my thread chttps://www.backyardchickens.com/t/801786/newbie-coop-run-ready-for-my-hens#post_11692747 about what to do to make it safe as the manufacturer barley put this thing together. If you don't look at that thread at least know that the lid of the nest box is only held on with staples. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]Regarding the roosts... I used the two that came with it together to make one wider roost. That one is roughly in the same spot as they came but a bit higher up and away from the nests. I also am putting a 2x4 about a foot off the floor nearly centered in the coop so they can hop up from the lower one. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]The reason I made the one lower is because they were first sleeping in the nest box and the the floor in front when I blocked the boxes off. They now roost on the lower bar so i will remove the blockade soon. Let me know if you want to see pics of the inside. You can see the outside in that thread as well as my repaired nest roof.[/FONT]

 

[kschicks2013]

How did you guess...I bought to of the Cape Cod Extreme Hen Houses....If I knew what it was lacking I would never have bought it. It's okay though we modified it.....We actually attached the two together......we cut out the walls on both sides so now the actual inside is wider.....and there are 4 nesting boxes.....and 4 roosting perches although I'm definitely going to do what you did and make them thicker so they will be a bit higher.....Also, I noticed that the nesting box roof wasn't sturdy so we made it sturdy and we also put spring loaded locks on the front of them so nothing can get into them.....I also reinforced the bottom of the next boxes so you can't just push up on the bottom and get in. We also cut one panel of the wire run so they can use both runs.....I'm going to put a couple of roosting perches under the house as well so if they want to use that they can. We bolted the roofs to the coop so nothing can lift them up.....I also drilled holes in the upper portion above the nesting boxes for ventilation......and on the sides as well.....That door that has the 4 windows is useless really for ventilation because if you want the hens to stay in the house there is no screening covering that area....so we put galvanized small wire in the window so in the warm weather I can open the window and they can get fresh air as well from that......Also I really don't trust the coop sturdiness so I enclosed the coops in a 10x10x6 ft. chain link dog kennel and put wire around the bottom portion of the chain link so if we have any predators with small paws they cannot stick their paws through the chain link to get to the chickens. Also I was worried that the hens could stick their heads through the chain link. And one more security measure, I put two hot wires...one at the bottom of the enclosure and one at the top so predators will not get close enough to try and get in. We shall see how it all works out. I'll post pictures too of what we did. I'd love to see more of your set up. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Oh I also emailed the manufacturer of the coops and let them know my observations about their design and construction. Haven't heard back from them.

 

[Biologrady]

Not familiar with the coop you describe, but if it helps I put an old sawhorse into our wire-sided coop. The girls gave it a thumbs up.