Ramps for perches and nest boxes? Perches in front of nest boxes?

[childrenschicks]

Building my coop! I have a large variety of chicks: Brahma, Orpington, jersey giant, australorp, Easter egger, Andalusian, and hamburg. My nest boxes on one side are 3ft off floor with poop pans on roof of nest box and perches above that and on the other side nest boxes are about 2ft off floor again with poop pans on roof and perches above that also, WONDERING if I need ramps to perches and boxes or do they manage on their own.?NEXT I see so many people place perches in front of nest boxes and I didn't plan that because my fear of them perching to sleep there and not pooping in my poop pans!!! OR do people make those moveable so hens don't sleep in the boxes or keep broody hens out???

PLEASE HELP SO I CAN FINISH MY COOP!!! THANKS

 

[iwiw60]

The best advice I can give you is this:

Put on a BIG pot of coffee and start browsing all the threads in the Coop & Run, Design, Construction & Maintenance board. Trust me you'll need a BIG pot....you can spend DAYS IN THERE!!

You will gather all the information you could want and then some...best of luck to you and keep us updated as to your progress!!

 

[jetdog]

The board in front of the boxes won't be a problem, they will always want to roost on the highest point, mine walk up the ramp to get on the roost which is above the nestboxs and poop board no problems at all.

 

[petrel]

The perch, in front of the next box is usually located closer to the wall or opening of the nest boxes, than a roost would be. That way it is available for them to "shop" for that magical spot, but not comfortable enough to roost upon. They can march up and down on it, but not turn to roost. Also, as jetdog stated, if higher roosts are available, they will usually prefer those over the perches in front of the nest boxes. Even the commercially available nest boxes have them, so I figure they are a good idea.

With the layout you describe, most of your birds can fly up to the roosts, providing there is adequate take off and landing area below. However, with younger birds and with the larger breeds, it would not hurt to give them a way to work their way up. Many of the arrangements I've seen similar to yours (like jetdog's) have ramps.

You may only want to close up the nest boxes for cleaning or to keep a young flock out until they are ready to lay. Sometimes that is accomplished with a flip up perch, sometimes just a sheet of cardboard, whatever works.

Like iwiw60 said, you may want to spend some time in the coops section to get a good look at all of the options. Please share some photos of your new coop when you get a chance. It doesn't have to be finished. In fact, it is more interesting to see the various stages of construction if you don't mind sharing them. Good Luck!

 

[childrenschicks]

Thank you so much! I've searched on this site and researched many books and have found good dimensions for perches and nest boxes, but not much info about how they get up there. I would rather not crowd my coop with a million ramps but defiantly willing to if that's what they need!. I will have to go and take some pictures and figure out how to post them! Thank you!

 

[iwiw60]

The board in front of the boxes won't be a problem, they will always want to roost on the highest point, mine walk up the ramp to get on the roost which is above the nestboxs and poop board no problems at all.

Thanks SO much @jetdog for posting the pic of your setup! My coop is a 5' x 8' Lifetime shed, like this example:


I keep the left-side door permanently shut to act as a wall, only using the right-side door for entry. My dilemma in setting up the roost, poop tray, nesting boxes has been ongoing for several weeks now as I wanted the roost/poop tray in on the left with the 2 nesting boxes setup straight ahead of the door entry against the back wall. But to put a ramp to the roost would put it sticking into the doorway...I have BAs...heavy breed. So when I saw your pic with the identical roost/poop tray I'm going to use with the nesting boxes underneath it ....GENIUS! I never thought of putting the nest boxes under the roost!! So now where I was going to put the nesting boxes is considered 'open space' so I can put my galvanized can with feed for storage...woot!

Is there any chance you have 'plans' for how this was built??? Hope so, I need all the help I can get!!

 

[jetdog]

No plans just 3 14x14 boxes with a plywood box for poop tray about 3 inches deep filled with sweet pdz. Has been working great so far.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It could help to see a photo of your layout inside the coop, but the only breeds considered large that you mentioned are Jersey Giants and Brahmas. The others are just dual purpose and can handle a lot. I’ve had most of those breeds. I have not had Brahmas or Jersey Giants so I’ll take other people’s word that they have problems with higher roosts and perches though sometimes I wonder if that is more from what people read as opposed to what people actually experience. Still err on the side of caution.

The dual purpose hens would probably have no problem getting to a nest two or three feet off the floor. It depends some on how the nest is built and how big the opening is. Still a perch in front of the nests won’t hurt a thing and with your heavier breeds is probably a good idea. It should be a few inches below the bottom of the entrance to your nest. You can either run it across the front of the nests maybe 6” to 8” away from the nests or run it perpendicular to the front of the nests, putting it under the nests or using it as part of your nest framing and have it stick out 6” to 8” away from the nests. It does not have to be squarely in the middle of the nest, it can be off to a side. A 2x4 either flat or on edge or a tree branch will work fine. People care about that stuff a whole lot more than chickens do.

You don’t need a ramp to each and every nest, especially with the perch running in front of the nests. One will be plenty as long as they can get access. You don’t even need a ramp. You can put a horizontal perch a foot to 18” off the floor and 8” to 12” further back from the perch going into the nests so they can hop up there or hop down if they want to. Think more of a ladder than a ramp.

A ramp doesn’t have to be that wide to take up a lot of space. I’ve also used a tree branch sloped a little shallower than a 45 degree angle. They walk up and down that tree branch holding on with their claws. Chickens are pretty adaptable. You don’t have to get real fancy with them. They can handle a lot.

Chickens like to roost on the highest point available to them. Normally you won’t have problems with them sleeping in nests or on anything lower as long as you have adequate roosts higher up. There are exceptions to this. Sometimes you get a bully on the roosts that makes life miserable for chickens low in the pecking order as they are settling down to sleep. Where they sleep is decided by pecking order and some can be pretty vicious about maintaining their pecking order rights in deciding where to roost. The weaker chickens sometimes get beat up so badly they look for a safer place to roost. It does not happen all the time but it does happen. A lot of times that safer place is your nests.

I see this a lot when I integrate younger chickens. It was so common that I put an extra roost lower than the main roosts and off to the side so these weaker chickens had a safer place to go that was not my nests. They generally use it when transitioning to the main roosts, but may use this alternate roost until they start to lay. Usually if you have a problem with them sleeping in the nests it’s because they don’t have a safe place to sleep that is higher. The way to solve this problem if you see it is to provide an extra roosting area that is safe for them.

 

[aart]

Thank you so much! I've searched on this site and researched many books and have found good dimensions for perches and nest boxes, but not much info about how they get up there. I would rather not crowd my coop with a million ramps but defiantly willing to if that's what they need!. I will have to go and take some pictures and figure out how to post them! Thank you!

Depends on the dimensions of your coop.
I found with 3 foot high x 2 foot wide roost boards in a 6 foot wide coop they needed a ramp to avoid flying off the board and into the wall. Plus heavy birds are better off not jumping 3 feet onto a hard floor. So I added a ramp to a platform that also has a ramp to the nest bar across from the roost board.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Good point, Aart. Another reason a photo might help. To get up and come down, they will spread their wings. They need enough room to do that. And another reason to not shoehorn them into the tiniest area you can but to give them space.