What shape of roosts do you use in your chicken coop?

[Flockincrazy]

Ok in my main coop when I put in the roosts I put in tree branches from a tree we cut down i posted pics the other day so when I decided to build a second coop and rescue/adopt roosters that were either not wanted or couldn't be kept due to city ordinances I used the same thing for roosts branches from a tree we cut down i was told by the previous owners of some of the roosters that they've never gotten on the roost before that all they ever did was huddle in the corner on the floor well not any more i love it they're all on the roosts and off the floor

 

[HiEverybirdy]

2x4 rectangle NARROW side up.

For large/heavy birds, a wide roost can cause problems. We have very big BJG. The cockerel at 11 months old, so not fully grown yet, developed a large infected breast blister from the 2x4 roost that was wide side up. His keel bone was rubbing on the roost, causing the breast blister. I spoke with the BJG breeder and was telling him the story after the BJG was on the mend, and before I finished and told him about the roosts, he jumped in to indicate it was probably too wide of a roost. Anyway, it took daily tending and removal of puss a few timesover the course of a few weeks to get him healthier and it took another couple of months for his breast blister/extended skin tofully heal and recede.
Overall, my experience tells me to provide a more narrow roost - either 2x4 barrow side up or round branches or dowels/closet rods.

Wow, that's crazy. I was thinking of replacing our Brahma boy's 2" roost with the wide side of a 2x4". He sleeps leaned back a little, and I thought he might need more stability. Now I'm thinking he sleeps that way to protect that pointy keel.

Anyway, according to his perfectly piled poop, he's getting a good night's sleep on the 2" roost. Plus our winters are mild and Brahma toes are feathered, so I can probably leave well enough alone. Thanks for sharing!

 

[ChickenMamaLissa]

I have five, 12 week old girls and we built them a nice roost out of branches. It goes high enough to reach the rafters. We learned early on that they like to be as high as possible. But they all insist on squishing together on the top of the water bucket.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Just a fun poll. And please post below why you use your type and what you chickens tend to prefer!

Please also check out this poll: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/are-your-roosts-equal-heights.1403369/

Round wooden poles. I built my coop and assumed that is best. Then I read about flat ones. I tried it but they like the round fat wooden ones.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

My round dowels.

 

[Caffus]

We rectangular roosts in the coop narrow side up. Ones high ones low. She prefers the high one. My baby chicks have a round branch in the house right now...they like it so I'll transfer it..when I transfer them outside.

 

[Humanbean68]

Thick branches. They are wide enough for the feet to be mostly flat.

 

[M Brennen]

the birds can grip the narrow roost just fine. In addition, their bodies cover their feet just fine. Sometimes birds just die, we’ve had 2 birds randomly die (no obvious illness, not old, no predator) - one fell off roost, one died mid-step in run mid-morning.

I have a mix of 2x4s and 2x3s at different heights. Some are on end (1.5"), some are flats (2.5", 3.5"), and some are angled so the bar is higher at one side than the other, others are level.

As you can see from the sig, I have a wide variety of bird sizes.

Oh, and I have a base for a composter made from a 55 gal drum which has two 2x4s at a slight angle (15 degrees?) so one point is slightly "up", on the 1.5" wide side. That's the preferred outdoor roost on my Golden Comets and most of the Dark Brahma.

/edit Forgot to add. I dropped a 13' long "stump" of an old hickory dead on my property, starting to rot where it stood as part of my fire mitigation/widowmaker removal efforts. That was dragged into the run and set on some cinder blocks to keep it out of the wet. It is the preferred outdoor perch for about 1/3 of my HH Rainbows. I'm guessing it varies from about 6" to 9 or 10" in diameter. They like the fat end. Left the bark on it.

and I sometimes find birds perched on the 3/4" PVC water line going from my 275gal tank to the watering cups, in a section with no cups - so they are clearly resting, not drinking - but none will overnight there.

They do seem to perch on anything. When my chickens were in the brooder I caught them perched on the electric cord.

 

[M Brennen]

Call your Local and have them send out another crew. You can always hire scabs off the bank, but I would never recommend that. Union might have some of their thugs happen by to ruffle some feathers. Help them out with their molt.

 

[Tashua]

Just a fun poll. And please post below why you use your type and what you chickens tend to prefer!

Please also check out this poll: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/are-your-roosts-equal-heights.1403369/

We ripped a 2x4 in half and used a router for the edges .......seems to work well