Roosts

[aart]

man I love your coop! how wide are the poop boards? the coop I'm building is going to be 6x10, and I was thinking about an "L" shaped roost setup similar to yours

See my edited post.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Perfect.

As an example - I've seen 16 (non-bantam) chickens all squished onto one half of a 2x4x8 roost and doing fine (albeing some squabbling for positions as they get in place) - and I've seen roosting where birds are spaced out and get really nasty with each other. The particular birds are a huge variable here.

Yep - we currently have way more roosting space in the coop than the birds want/use - as evidenced by the poo that accumulates under one section compared to practically none under the other. We have "squishers" at the moment -- I have toyed with the idea of taking out one section, but have talked myself out of it due to the fact that flock dynamics can change.

 

[aart]

Quote: ...and they'll spread out when it gets hot.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

...and they'll spread out when it gets hot.

That was the surprising thing about this flock - even through the heat of last summer/fall they were all very faithful to their preferred spots. I'm working through my planned additions now and am really curious to see how things shift once the new birds are actually ready to be integrated.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

There just aren’t any magic numbers with chickens, roost space or much else. We are all so unique that the numbers that work for some don’t work for others. Do you have bantam or full-sized fowl? Do you have Silkies that can’t fly and may not roost at all? Are all of yours the same age or do you have a mix of juveniles and adults? Will you be integrating new chickens in the future? Will you always have 12 or will that number grow? How much room do you have in the coop, do they have enough room to spread their wings and jump/fly up and down or are they so restricted they need steps and ladders to get up and down? As soon as someone mentions a number someone else will come back and say that they do it differently and it works. And they are right. We are all unique.

Aint that the truth! It's very helpful when people say what they like or don't like then explain WHY they like or don't like it.

 

[Steve P]

There just aren’t any magic numbers with chickens, roost space or much else. We are all so unique that the numbers that work for some don’t work for others. Do you have bantam or full-sized fowl? Do you have Silkies that can’t fly and may not roost at all? Are all of yours the same age or do you have a mix of juveniles and adults? Will you be integrating new chickens in the future? Will you always have 12 or will that number grow? How much room do you have in the coop, do they have enough room to spread their wings and jump/fly up and down or are they so restricted they need steps and ladders to get up and down? As soon as someone mentions a number someone else will come back and say that they do it differently and it works. And they are right. We are all unique.

There is a lot I don’t know about your flock and your coop so it is hard to say if one 8’ roost will work or not. They not only need enough room to roost, they need enough room get up there. Where they stay on the roost is determined by pecking order and where their buddies are sleeping so once they get up there mine maneuver around to get where they want to be. Chickens lower in the pecking order sometimes get knocked to the ground as stronger-willed chickens move them out of the way.

Also, some chickens, always the hens in my flock, can be real brutes when on the roosts. They’ll go out of their way to peck and abuse lower ranking chickens when on the roosts. This happens a lot when I integrate brooder-raised younger chickens into the main coop or when a broody weans her chicks and leaves them to make their own way with the flock. This is a common enough occurrence that I put up an additional roost lower than the main roosts and horizontally separated so these chickens have a safe place to go that is not my nests. If you have chickens at a different maturity level especially you probably need more roost space than if they are all the same age. Chickens like to roost on the highest thing they can but they don’t like being pecked and abused.

I’m a believer in providing as much space as you reasonably can. Don’t get silly about it but I have fewer behavioral problems if I don’t pack them in like sardines. Some people do quite well with 8 feet of roosts for 12 chickens, but my personal preference is to go with more. Of course you can try it and if you need to, add another one later as long as you allow for it in your coop layout. A good sign you need another is if they start sleeping in your nests. You’ll need some flexibility in your coop design anyway, things never work out exactly as you planned.

Good luck and welcome to the adventure.

No 12 chickens will be the max. My coop is going to be 8x8 and 7 foot tall in the center. They will all be the same age. Flock will consist of Isa Brown's Black Sex Link Ameraucana Silver Laced and Golden Laced Wyandotte and Welsummer.

 

[Steve P]

man I love your coop! how wide are the poop boards? the coop I'm building is going to be 6x10, and I was thinking about an "L" shaped roost setup similar to yours

Thanks for the pic. That was kinda what I was thinking of doing. Do they roost in front of the nest boxes?

 

[TheChickGirl01]

I have six chickens, 1 heavy, 3 standard, and 2 bantams. I have a roosting bar along my nesting box. It has 4 compartments on the bottom and the top. this seems like plenty of space for my birds. they also love to be on the top of the nesting box, it's at an angle and they love it.

 

[PapaChaz]

See my edited post.

thanks again!
I read that originally as if they were 18" off the floor, mine will be a bit higher than that since I put my nest boxes at that height ( I think, it's been a while since I did those, LOL)

I'll most likely get the framework done and add the poo boards later. My 6 oldest are going on 6 weeks old and if all goes as planned, they may get to spend the night out there tonight. Don't know that they'd use roosts yet, but we'll see!

in the meantime, the poo boards will be made from the brooder box once I move all the chicks out, probably be a couple more weeks. My next brooder will be incorporated into the coop for the next chicks.......

not trying to hijack the thread, OP if I do my roosts like aarts, I'll have 14' of roost for 14 birds.....and I already know they'll use about half that, LOL

 

[sumterflfreed]

So I read in here somewhere silkies may not roost? So what do I do for silkies as I have 8 silkies around 4 weeks old and a dark brahma who is much bigger than the silkies but still around 4 weeks old and tried to roost today when I put a "ladder" in but I couldn't get the silkies to go on it or up the ramp almost like they are afraid of heights. I didn't know silkies didn't fly. Any advice would be helpful