Roosts and Dropping Board Sizes?

[aart]

Actually this is interesting, when I copied the images I see that the dropping board does extend further that the roosts. Hmmmmmm...
@aart Any comments on this?

Yeeesssss.....Are dimensions given in the plans for the roost spacing and poop board?

 

[Ted Brown]

Yeeesssss.....Are dimensions given in the plans for the roost spacing and poop board?

Other than height off the frame bottom for both roosts and dropping board not that I have found as yet. The diagram above shows the dropping board as being bigger than the combined roost boards but without specifics. I can guess by virtue of the layout vis-a-vis the 10' by 10' dimension of the back section but...

I am certain that I have seen threads that give spacing from wall, roost to roost, bird to bird (12"?), flight path length, etc.

 

[aart]

I am certain that I have seen threads that give spacing from wall, roost to roost, bird to bird (12"?), flight path length, etc.

12-18" from the wall, same between roosts, IIRC.
Hard to say what works best, hopefully someone with the same layout you have planned can attest.
I would surmise that 18" would be better, out of pecking range between roosts.
But I dunno.....not much help, eh? Sorry

 

[Ted Brown]

...I would surmise that 18" would be better, out of pecking range between roosts. But I dunno.....not much help, eh? Sorry

The diagram above does not show the the roost/dropping board to occupy one half of the back section. Moreover, I intend to start with 8-10 birds and cannot imagine ever getting to even 30 much less 40 (I know chicken math... and I have started to think about meat birds as well as layers).

What I will do is make things flexible.

• Roost board will have heavy nails that fit into holes drilled into the frame boards that will be used to support them.
• Dropping board will be constructed out of 1" by 6" boards so can be extended as/if needed.

So @aart and @21hens-incharge your advice is greatly appreciated!!

 

[aart]

What I will do is make things flexible.

• Roost board will have heavy nails that fit into holes drilled into the frame boards that will be used to support them.
• Dropping board will be constructed out of 1" by 6" boards so can be extended as/if needed.

That was my next thought!

 

[Ghosty]

I do 15" from wall, 15" between roosts. A 16" wide poop board is catching the poop on both sides of the top roost. My 12' long top roost fits 18 birds when full, so 8" per bird. My birds usually all roost on the top, but I lost my flock leader, and some are viewing the new chicks in their enclosure, so they have split up to the other roosts. I may need to add another poop board soon. A last pic of my flock leader Silvry in very front.

 

[jthornton]

Very true. What width does one provide per bird?

I have 11' of roost and had 10 chickens. I have seen all 10 try to be on one 4' roost when I had the evil rooster, usually only 9 would fit. I now have 8 hens and see up to 6 on a 4' roost regularly. I do a bed check each night. Some nights they are spread out over the 11' of roosts. The higher the roost the more room they need to fly up.

If your starting with 10 birds make the roosts so they sit in a socket and are removable and just provide 1 roost to start. As for a poop board the farther below the roost it is the wider it needs to be. I don't know if a Sweet PDZ type of product is available in your area but wow did it make it much easier to clean the roost area each morning.

This is before I switched to Sweet PDZ and had poop boards that I had to scrape daily to clean.


JT

 

[aart]

What I will do is make things flexible.

• Roost board will have heavy nails that fit into holes drilled into the frame boards that will be used to support them.
• Dropping board will be constructed out of 1" by 6" boards so can be extended as/if needed.

Was thinking about this....love the idea of holes and nails slipping in,
for both roosts and poop board slats.

Could also use deck screws, pretty easy to move.
This is what I use, philips heads packed with beeswax keeps poop from packing drive slots.

 

[Ted Brown]

12-18" from the wall, same between roosts, IIRC...I would surmise that 18" would be better, out of pecking range between roosts.

I do 15" from wall, 15" between roosts. A 16" wide poop board is catching the poop on both sides of the top roost. My 12' long top roost fits 18 birds when full, so 8" per bird.View attachment 1794706

I have 11' of roost and had 10 chickens. I have seen all 10 try to be on one 4' roost when I had the evil rooster, usually only 9 would fit. I now have 8 hens and see up to 6 on a 4' roost regularly. I do a bed check each night. Some nights they are spread out over the 11' of roosts. The higher the roost the more room they need to fly up.View attachment 1794804

JT

I have decided:

• Will pre-drill holes in the roost frame members starting 12" from the back wall then every 3" out to 42" from wall (11 holes). This will allow up to 4 roost boards.
• Roost support frame members will extend 10' on one side and 6' 6" on the door side.
• Dropping board frame members will be 60" long. I will use 1" by 6" pine and add them as needed.
• Will paint the floors with BlackJack 57, will also do the 3 walls under the roost boards (height is 29"), frame members and roost boards with BJ57.

Thanks all for your inputs!

 

[paneubert]

Very true. What width does one provide per bird?

Classic answer is 12 inches per bird. But sometimes they don't follow the rules. Here are my 10 birds on 9 total feet of roost....you can see they don't want a foot each. Granted they are not quite full grown in this photo and maybe they will want more space when they are a bit older and angrier. Even as recent as last night I have seen them all on just the shorter roost. So that would put them at using less than 6 inches each.