Roosts and Brood boxes

[Stamper]

I'm getting ready to put the finishing touches on my coop and I have a few questions...

Is there a standard height for roosts to be set? Is there anything that is best for making them out of?

AND...

My brood boxes are going to be up off the ground for easier human access. How high can I make them? Do I need to give the chickens a little perch outside the boxes to hop up on?

Thanks!

 

[ChickensInTheNorthWoods]

I have the back wall of my hen house covered with nesting boxes - the bottom row is 18 inches off the floor and the top row is 5 1/2 feet off the floor. I found my bantams and polish hens like to use the upper boxes while my jersey giants tend to use the lower ones. I have my perches staggered and they use them to "ladder" their way up to the box of their preference.
Hope this helps and didn't confuse you!

 

[RHewitt]

2 X 4's make an excellent roost because they are flat. If you round off the eggs it makes it easier for them to grasp with their feet. The only thing I would add to stampers suggestions is if you put your nest boxes inside and they are higher than your roost the chickens may nest on top and dirty things up. If you put them inside build them with a sloped roof to keep them off.

Here's a picture of my roost. Maybe that will help you.

 

[Nostalchic]

My experience has been that if your nesting boxes are as high or higher than the roosts, the chickens will roost IN, as well as ON, them and poop all night in the nest box. Which makes for messy eggs. So it kind of depends on how fastidious about clean nests/eggs you are - that vs how much you don't want to bend down to collect the eggs. If you want to make cleaning the coop easier, and keep your nest boxes clean, put the roosts higher and closer to the in-door, and the nests lower and far from the door in a sort of secluded place.

 

[Stamper]

Thank you all!

 

[bethandjoeync]

we used what we had, and it seemed to work for the nest boxes

our roosts were made from a tree. we just roped them together, left a few of the limbs a few inches long for anchors, and they really seem to like it. we have different levels because we have big girls and smaller chicks, and it is leaned up against the wall