What to use to build roosts?

[kelliepulido]

could you show a picture of the roosts and the fence posts? Thanks

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

We made sawhorses with 2x4's (thin side up) and they work fine. They are about 2 feet off the ground. Nesting boxes are in a different area.

 

[Davaroo]

2 x 4's work well - round the edges with a rasp. I use them NARROW side up. Closet rods work too. So do stout tree branches of 2" or so diameter. Thats the the key - they need to be 1.5"-2" in diameter for a chicken to proerly grip them.

Whatever you do, dont use metal. Its slippery and hard to grip and can be murder in the winter when it gets COLD.

 

[joeman2041]

I use 1x3 wide side up. It's really cheap

 

[Grass]

i did the ladder style out of 2x3's that i found at lowes.we put the 3" side up for the birds. the chicks seems to love it ....even though all of them try like crazy to fit on the top one, wich is about 5' high

 

[mudshark]

Quote:
I thought the idea is for chickens to stand and not grip? I intend to use some rounded 1x4s I found that used to be part of a picnic table.

 

[Davaroo]

Chickens don't stand at roost. They wrap their claws around the roost and sort of "lock" them in position, then hunker down and squat over their feet. It's actally a carefully worked out balancing act and is fascinating to watch.

The roost diameter is key to this. Too narrow and they can't get an effective grip, to wide and they dont grip at all.

Now, they can squat down anywhere, as evidenced by some of the crazy places they find to sleep away from the coop. But, their feet have adapted over millions of years to grip and hold them in low tree branches at night. If you are going to keep them in a coop to best advantage, it's best you provide a simulation of this - the roost as we know it.

 

[patandchickens]

Elderoo is of course in SC -- the tradeoffs can be a bit different up north...

Pat

 

[Velociraptor]

Because I read a similar thread like this a few weeks ago I decided on one of each, 2x4 edge up and 2x4 wide up. My coop is small and symmetrical and the roosts are 4 feet apart with a bridge between them, they use both but for now seem to favor the edge up one.

The RIRs are about 6 weeks and have be doing this switching behavior for about 3 weeks.

 

[Davaroo]

Elderoo is of course in SC -- the tradeoffs can be a bit different up north...

Its interesting you should say that, Pat. Most of the great work for increasing productivity and generally improving the state of chicken keeping in this country was done in places in the north.
Maine, Rhode Island, New York, Illinois - they all were hot spots of development long before we came on the scene. Much of the housing design we call innovative today, if truth be known, is a direct result of that work.
I only stand on the shoulders of greater men than I - as do we all.​