Roosting material?

[wortgames]

On a related note, at what point does a 'roost' simply become a 'surface'?!

I have been thinking about k8tiecat's poo park and I'm wondering about somehow incorporating the roost into the lid of the poo bin. In other words, there would be wire mesh running immediately underneath the roost (to keep everyone out of the stinky stuff). That way the structure could simply have a hatch at the bottom for shovelling out the poo and straw, oldest first, and the roost itself would form part of the 'lid' frame which would lift up to put in fresh straw at the top.

Are there some specific points that a roost needs to have? ie, does it need to be x inches above the ground, or have a certain size clear gap underneath it to make it a bona fide roost? Or are the birds really just happy as long as they have a place to sleep and poo?

Also, do they always face away from the nearest wall, or could they get into the habit of facing the wrong way and pooing down the front of their roost (and onto any lower, further-forward roosts)?!

FWIW, our hens at the moment actually seem to be quite happy spending nights in the nesting boxes, although this may be because they are having trouble getting up to the current roosts since I clipped their wings (had to do it after chasing them around the neighbourhood the other day...

)

I hope I've explained myself OK, sorry for all the questions and thanks for all the responses!

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

We use tree branches we prune from our trees.

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

It has been my experience that they will roost in both directions so plan for that.

The pooh trap under the roost is a good idea and I plan to incorporate one in my future coops. I personally would not put straw in the trap if no one (or chickens) was gonna be in it. it would be easier to clean without the straw. Just make the bottom slick or smooth to clean easier.

For some reason they will roost in the nest boxes when they are young, to eliminate the dirty boxes, either remove them when they are young (before laying age) or block them from entering the boxes during that time.

Never apologize for asking questions here it gives the rest of us an excuse to be logged on

 

[wortgames]

Cool, thanks again

Interesting comment about not bothering with straw in the poo bin. I was thinking it would need something to absorb moisture and make the stuff easier to shovel around. Maybe a bit of sawdust every couple of days? Or does chook poo usually dry out by itself pretty quickly? It looks pretty sludgy to me but maybe I'm only seeing the really fresh stuff?! The chooks diet will also be very different to what they got at the egg farm so I imagine the constitution of their poo would still be settling down too.

It would be good if we could minimise emptying to once every week or two. We have only got 3 chooks at the moment and may get a couple more but probably no more than 6 in total. The coop is pretty spacious so it isn't a problem of volume, more hygiene between cleanings.

Also, we have an area between the chook house and the veggie patch which we are setting aside as a 'composting yard'. All the kitchen scraps and chicken straw will be spread over this area, which the chooks will have regular access to. It is largely shaded by a couple of plum trees so there isn't anything growing there at the moment anyway, and the way we figure it the chooks will take what they want, turn everything over and the remaining nutrients will feed the plums.

Does this sound like a reasonable plan or is there a serious risk of developing problems with disease etc by allowing the chooks access to their old straw?

 

[McGoo]

I've got a poop bin under my roost and I presently use some wood shavings to absorb. I just bought some corn cob pellets to give that a try. I hate when the poop is all stuck on...

My roost is about 8 - 10 inches above the lower surface. It seems to work well.