What's the ideal material to use for a roosting bar

[Farmer Mike S]

I've been using a broom handle that's about an inch in diameter. It's 15 inches high, 8 inches from the wall, and four feet long. The problem is that my chickens are 12 weeks old and don't roost on it. Someone told me its because they don't like the rounded platform, so i was wondering what I should use. And if you say something like a 2x4, please specify which side is up.

 

[chickers]

A 2 x4 with the wide side up.

 

[MoonShadows]

The roost of choice is a 2x4 on the flat side. Make sure the edges are smooth so they don't get any splinters.

 

[monitagabel]

The roost of choice is a 2x4 on the flat side. Make sure the edges are smooth so they don't get any splinters.

yep..... this is what I do.

if you don't want to do this you can also cut a small tree limb or small tree (limbs removed) to the length you need. they tend to like these especially if you leave the bark on. they don't like the broom handles and such because it is smooth and too small making it hard for them to keep their balance.

 

[DEBlues]

yep..... this is what I do.

if you don't want to do this you can also cut a small tree limb or small tree (limbs removed) to the length you need. they tend to like these especially if you leave the bark on. they don't like the broom handles and such because it is smooth and too small making it hard for them to keep their balance.

We cut a maple branch and just put that up with screws. Our chickens seem to love it.

 

[Belinda7]

I had bought a wooden dowel at Lowe's that was long enough to go through one side of the wire to the other side, and of a diameter that would fit snugly through the wire walls. This worked well for quite awhile because I could slowly "raise the bar" LOL as they got bigger. It was long enough to extend far enough beyond the coop to be stable.

The chicks are 9 weeks old, and it seems like it is too small of a diameter for them now. I like the idea of a branch inside, but really don't have an area to screw it in the run, and since I move the chicken tractor to new ground everyday, I can't stick in the ground either. They have 2 square roosting poles in the nesting area, so I think I can just call that good? Or is it important to have roosting poles even though they are free ranging and could do that anytime they wanted outside? (But they don't - they mostly hang out in the long meadow grasses or under bushes and trees...eating wherever they are!)

They are outside and could fly into any low bush or tree, but they have never done that.

I love the chicken tractor I made - it definitely mitigates chicken poop pile-up, and I have an area right off the lawn that is wild meadow, so they love it out there, and I don't have to worry about doing anything with the waste (it just naturally dissolves into the soil,) after I move it one chicken coop width a day. By the time I get to the "end of the run" I will just start over moving it from the beginning again. One important point, move the coop towards the door that you usually access the coop interior on. First time I went the other way....and once I saw the ground where I would have to access the interior, I decided I was definitely going in the wrong direction, and moved the coop to other end of the run to start. The idea was, that by the time I revisited that area, all the poop would be GONE, not freshly deposited.

 

[monitagabel]

the roost pole is not a necessity but really a plus. if you ever leave your chickens out at night they will roost in the trees. reason being it keeps them safe from predators. if your chickens are sleeping on the ground they are more likely to become some animals midnight snack. they are less likely to be caught unaware if they have a roost pole. and most predators will not climb to get them.

I like the idea of the tractor. right now I only have 6 chickens and they are in 2 separate portable cages until I get a coop made. I could probably remodel my cages and make them tractors. I don't like the poop pile up or bald patches in my yard either.... even if they are at the edge of the yard it is still an eyesore.

 

[GwenM]

We came across old hand railings, so we decided to use them. My hubby cut them to fit, and our girls seem to like them. For our run, we found pretty thick branches maybe about 3 inch in diameter, and they are always on them.

 

[renardsubtil]

Start with a 2x4 with the widest side up and then try a dowel...you'll find out what the chickens like in the first week.

I initially used a closet clothing hanging dowel but the chickens didn't like it, I "think" they found it too slippery - anyways, I changed to a fence board I had sitting around that was about 4" side and they've been using it ever since.

 

[Belinda7]

That coop looks very similar to mine - how in the heck did you get the roosting pole attached? In the run area, there is the ramp going up with two pieces of wood across from each other so I could put a roosting pole there, but it would cross over the ramp quite low at that point and I wouldn't want the roosting pole blocking the passage up, and everywhere else there is wire all around! I am using a small diameter dowel that fits through the wire at this point, but I think it is getting to be too small of a diameter as they grow.