Spacing between roost bars...

[Mimi13]

Good to know. The table is 29 inches high. Depending on how I orient it in the coop, I am going to either have a ramp up to the poop board level, or figure out some sort of intermediate jumping/landing points. Depends on how much clearance I have in front of the table.

This is the error I made when putting everything in the coop. To begin with my nests were too high which made me have to raise my roosts. Only to find out the amount of space left in the coop did not allow for the optimal “flight path clearance” from the poop board to be at least 45*. That is the reason I also lowered the poop board when I changed the roost spacing. They do have a ramp that some use going up and coming down, but the majority just fly up and then hop down. There is a 4” - 5” bed of sand in the coop, so no one is landing on a hard, flat surface. There is so much sand that when I walk into the coop I think I’m on the beach in Florida.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Only to find out the amount of space left in the coop did not allow for the optimal “flight path clearance” from the poop board to be at least 45*.

Wasn't aware of this stat. Now I'm worried I made that sane mistake, too! Gonna go out and measure in the morning...

Oh, newbies!

When do newbies lose that status? LOL!

 

[Mimi13]

Wasn't aware of this stat. Now I'm worried I made that sane mistake, too! Gonna go out and measure in the morning...

Oh, newbies!

When do newbies lose that status? LOL!

I believe it will be once we make every mistake in the book and our chickens still live.

 

[RoosterML]

Only to find out the amount of space left in the coop did not allow for the optimal “flight path clearance”

Very important, you can not have enough room to come down off the roost. Most like to just jump down and you can see that they even question themselves sometimes if they have enough room or not in my case.
I think if you double the length of the landing zone compared to the height of the roost that would be perfect.

 

[aart]

get creative because my coop is small.

Wasn't aware of this stat. Now I'm worried I made that sane mistake, too! Gonna go out and measure in the morning...

You're fine. You have those ramps and platform.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Wasn't aware of this stat. Now I'm worried I made that sane mistake, too! Gonna go out and measure in the morning...

I wasn't aware of that stat either. I wonder where it came from. For those that will measure but need math help, a 45 degree angle means that the landing area length from the launch point is equal to the launch point height. If you double the launch point height for the length of the landing area, the angle is about 37 degrees (or 63 degrees, depending on where you measure the angle from). The launch point could be your roost, it could be the edge of your droppings board. It's whatever your chicken decides. In my opinion bantams need less room that full-sized fowl.

I agree, the higher the roosts the more clear area they need to land, if they fly down. But a lot of our coops are not big enough to provide that much space and people still use them. The chickens don't get hurt. They might use ramps or they might hop to intermediate points before they fly if they fly at all. I'm all in favor of providing as much room as you reasonably can in practically everything but we are all going to be unique in what is reasonable. There are different ways to handle these things.

I agree with Aart, with the ramps you should be fine. No reason to panic.

 

[aart]

I wasn't aware of that stat either. I wonder where it came from. For those that will measure but need math help, a 45 degree angle means that the landing area length from the launch point is equal to the launch point height.

Have seen it around, not sure of origin...not a bad idea, tho rather hard for some to apply.
But like any 'rule of thumb'... other variables must be considered.

 

[jthornton]

I just observed how far it takes my hens to go when they fly down from something and it varies from bird to bird. Some take more room and some fly down at a steeper angle. The shallower the angle they fly down the longer it takes them to stop once they hit the ground. I assume it also depends on the gravitational attraction of each bird and the quality of the flight feathers and I assume it also depends on how brave the chicken is. Middle of the road seems to be about 45° for my hens... yours might be different.

Going the other direction my hens fly almost vertical up when they want to get up to something... one flies up to my shoulder and walks around with me like a pirate chicken.

JT

 

[Ridgerunner]

I just observed how far it takes my hens to go when they fly down from something and it varies from bird to bird. Some take more room and some fly down at a steeper angle. The shallower the angle they fly down the longer it takes them to stop once they hit the ground. I assume it also depends on the gravitational attraction of each bird and the quality of the flight feathers and I assume it also depends on how brave the chicken is. Middle of the road seems to be about 45° for my hens... yours might be different.

Going the other direction my hens fly almost vertical up when they want to get up to something... one flies up to my shoulder and walks around with me like a pirate chicken.

JT

I've seen mine (full sized hens and even a full sized rooster once) launch from a 5' roost, fly forward about 8', hang a sharp left, go through the people door, and land outside in the run. Not many do this but they are capable. Chickens are not great fliers but they can often do better than people think.

I totally agree, chickens are all different. They don't all fit in the same mold.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Lol! You must know me, @Ridgerunner I always panic. Such Is the plight of the newbie.

I have a couple who fly down. One of them is a brahma. She has a long way to go til fully grown, so I was kinda worried about her landing too hard. And I ease kinda worried about bumblefoot. But what you say makes sense.