BTW I'll post some pictures of what I've built once a few more things are in place. In the past I'd bought the prefab coops, but after seeing what I had to add and what worked and what didn't, I figured I could easily build something much better - so far so good. On the exterior it is a 4 x 6 foot coop, double walled (interior and exterior), framed with 2x4's, which goes out through an automatic door with light sensor, to a very good amount of run area. The interior has a separate small 'cabinet' in the recess of one of the walls which holds the electrical items, wires for dual temp probe sensors (controls if the coop warming panels come on or not) - each of the two sensors placed in different parts of the coop, battery with trickle charger connection for the same - battery goes to "pullet-shut chicken door (love these! Have had one for nearly 10 years without issue (and I own two others) - PulletShut Chicken Doors if you are interested) and out to the light sensor which controls the door closing and opening, the small cabinet also houses a UPS as temporary backup power should the coop lose power. There's also going to be a LED smart light (compatible with Alexa, like I have in one of my other coops) on top of the ceiling. The thing I've loved about this project is that I'm finally able to put everything that I like into one thing instead of buying a kit built which always required multiple alterations/additions to make it both safe and useful - and even at that there were always compromises limited by the structure of the prefab.
I'm working out the 'internals' of the coop now that the walls are mostly up (there is a ceiling, but I will have a roof as a separate construction on the top).
Here's my question: So, I've seen these roosting 'ladders' (for lack of a better description). Basically they are two 2x4's, parallel, going up at an angle from the floor to a coop wall with the roosting bars (2x4's or 2x2's) spaced horizontally up the 'ladder' like rungs of a ladder.
I've read that I need to have the 'horizontal' spacing between perches at 12" and a vertical distance of 18" between perches going up the ladder (free to other ideas too). What I am unsure of, since I've never had this arrangement before is if there is some optimum angle for the ladder that is best for the chickens as they work their way up the 'ladder'? I figure too steep is a problem cause they need a certain distance to 'hop-fly' from perch to perch and that too shallow could be a problem as I'd guess they need a certain distance/clearance to fly to the floor.
So, is there an angle that is best from floor to top of 'ladder'? Once I have the angle I can work out the spacing/placement of the 'rungs'/perches. BTW while I have all your attention, should the bottom rung be a foot above the floor (I've seen some mention two feet but that *seems* awfult high).
I'm working out the 'internals' of the coop now that the walls are mostly up (there is a ceiling, but I will have a roof as a separate construction on the top).
Here's my question: So, I've seen these roosting 'ladders' (for lack of a better description). Basically they are two 2x4's, parallel, going up at an angle from the floor to a coop wall with the roosting bars (2x4's or 2x2's) spaced horizontally up the 'ladder' like rungs of a ladder.
I've read that I need to have the 'horizontal' spacing between perches at 12" and a vertical distance of 18" between perches going up the ladder (free to other ideas too). What I am unsure of, since I've never had this arrangement before is if there is some optimum angle for the ladder that is best for the chickens as they work their way up the 'ladder'? I figure too steep is a problem cause they need a certain distance to 'hop-fly' from perch to perch and that too shallow could be a problem as I'd guess they need a certain distance/clearance to fly to the floor.
So, is there an angle that is best from floor to top of 'ladder'? Once I have the angle I can work out the spacing/placement of the 'rungs'/perches. BTW while I have all your attention, should the bottom rung be a foot above the floor (I've seen some mention two feet but that *seems* awfult high).
