Will this roost design work.

[garthmyers]

I have a 4x7 coop and I am planning to put in the roost and poop board today. My plan is just a 2x4 12" away from the wall about 4' high with a 2x12 under it. My question is that the 2x12 will be directly above the entrance to my external nesting box. Is this going to be a problem? From what I have seen, I do not think it will be just wanted some input before I start constructing.

-Garth-

 

[patandchickens]

Well, 12" from the wall is pretty close. OK for bantams but reeallll tight for regular sized chickens. Also, a 2x12 will miss a fair bit of poo, even if it is centered under the roost. (And if it is centered under the roost, and this is all above your nestboxes, some poo may tumble/squirt into the opening of the external nestboxes below.

If you have banties and/or are *forced* to have the roost that close to the wall, fine; otherwise you might consider moving it out a little. And, maybe see if you can find something wider for the droppings board, if not now then at least "when the appropriate material becomes available". IME 16" will catch most but still not quite all poo (this is from regular sized chickens).

As long as no significant am'ts of poo are squirting/tumbling into the nestboxes (as per my concern above), there is nothing wrong with having the roost and droppings board over top of the nestboxes. I actually am set up that way, with regular inside-the-coop nestboxes, and it works fine for me. You just need a wide enough droppings board to keep the boxes clean.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[garthmyers]

Quote:
Would it be ok to put the roost 18" from the wall and then have 2 2x12 so a total of 24" of poop board under the roost. I am just thinking this would be a larger platform in my coop but cant think of a better way to do it. My other option would be to place the roost on the short ends and have the poop boards angled twords my cleanout doors. and just have two 4 foot roost. does this seem like a more viable option? The issue is that the roost would be infront of my windows and i didin't know if this would be a problem.

 

[garthmyers]

Here is an example of my coop. Sorry no photos i will upload actual photos when i get home. I could put two 4 foot long roost on either side above the poop doors with a poop board slanted twords the doors. the issue is that there are 36" x 38" windows above both doors. I didn't know if this would be a problem. Just want to ensre a good placemnt of the roost. any help would be appriciated.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
You can if there is room although you could cut the dimensions down a bit unless you are having really big chickens. You may wish to have a little more total width of droppings board than some people do, if you want to be SURE that nothing squirts/tumbles into the exterior nestbox fronts (a lot of people would have the droppings board not go all the way to the wall, which means you don't need so wide a piece)

It is pretty easy to experiment. If you put a horizontal 2x4 (or whatever) cleat on each end wall, for the ends of the roost to be screwed onto to support it, it becomes real easy to back those two screws out and shift the roost closer or further from the wall if you wish. And you can try one size/configuration of board to catch droppings, and if you don't like it, modify or swap in something else. If you use two boards you may wish to cover them with scrap vinyl flooring or something like that so there is not a crevice along the middle for nasties to get stuck in.

Thinking more about your situation, yeah, I think if it were me I'd probably just pick something plausible and then expect to fiddle and adjust it til I liked the way it was working

Good luck, have fun,

Pat