Roost too high! Not sure how to fix.

[Atchurch]

Anybody got a good idea for my new coop's top roosting bar? They get up there okay, but I have to pick them up and put them on the ground every morning. I can see them trying to figure out how to navigate the descent. I want a ramp or something to assist them, instead of me doing it for them. It's 3.5 feet up.

 

[ChickNanny13]

You may want to lower to 18 - 24", remove the "highest" one ... Yes they do love being higher but the landing is hard on their feet, legs, joints .... IMO. Keep a good layer of shavings 4" - 6" and remove stuff they dig up to help prevent Bumble Foot. The ones in front of the nest boxes may be the distance is too close.

How many chickens do you have? How old are they? What breeds do you have?

 

[Atchurch]

There's one a foot off the ground way over to the left, then on 2 feet that's running the length of the middle, between the high and low one, but they can't figure it out. Although, they use the 2 foot one to get up the high one. They just don't understand how to reverse the procedure. Lol. And we have sand floors. It's kinda thick and very soft, red sand. Anyhow, I guess we can just remove it. I really wanted it there because it's in a direct line of the breezeway from the windows for summer. Even the nights'll get hot here pretty soon. But I absolutely don't want my babies hurt!

 

[Atchurch]

You may want to lower to 18 - 24", remove the "highest" one ... Yes they do love being higher but the landing is hard on their feet, legs, joints .... IMO. Keep a good layer of shavings 4" - 6" and remove stuff they dig up to help prevent Bumble Foot. The ones in front of the nest boxes may be the distance is too close.

How many chickens do you have? How old are they? What breeds do you have?

Sorry. I didn't see the bottom part. 7 babies, just over 9 weeks old now. 3 RIR (1 rooster) and 4 BR.

 

[Atchurch]

Here's the new coop we converted from a shed. Those are my nesting buckets. They're on the opposite wall from all those other roosts, but they have their own roost, ladder and little ramp.

 

[rosemarythyme]

3.5' isn't that high up for lighter breeds, but they do need landing space in front of the bars that's at least as long as the bar is high, and they might not have that because of the bank of nests right across from there.

I'd try removing that high bar and seeing if they'll use just the lower ones, assuming you have around 12" of roost space per bird with removal of the bar.

 

[Atchurch]

Yeah, I took it out this morning before work. And the nesting buckets aren't directly in front of where they roost. They all stayed close to the front window. That said, the shed, itself, isn't very wide so the door/wall was too close to give them adequate space to get down gracefully. But the bar is gone now and they still have tons of roosting space. But I can breathe easier, knowing they can't get hurt. My husband is there with them all day because he works from home, but he can't stay out there with them to make sure they don't get stuck up there and can't get down. Lol. Thank you all for letting me know about the very real thing: Bumble Foot!!!