Are roosting beams/poles/limbs really essential in a little coop?

[wannabe4birds]

1st, I have to say: I love this website! It's at least as helpful and interesting for folks new into raising chickens as the BeeForum is for us beekeepers.

Now: I plan to construct, with a pro's help, a "minimalist coop" from specs I saw in the "Dummies" book -- which appears to coincide completely with one featured on Growing a Greener World. I noticed, though, that the specs don't feature a roost for the birds, and the nesting boxes (is there a better term for those?) are situated on the floor. Per one forum response, the birds don't care for being that close to the "ground" [coop floor]. And are roosts really mandatory? I didn't see a feature whereby I could easy-access the nests for removing eggs -- I'd have to squeeze into the coop for the harvest.

Any ideas/concepts/experiences-to-relate would be appreciated.....

Mitch

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Not absolutely mandatory but chickens like to sleep as high as possible. If no roosts are available they may either sleep on or in the nest box. The former means they'll be sleeping on their feces, The latter makes for poopy eggs.
If it freezes where you are, the roosts need to be wide enough so the chickens can cover their toes at night. Think a 2X4 wide side up.
How little of a coop are you talking about? The smaller the coop the fewer chickens you can have. They need a minimum of 4 sq. ft. floor space per bird inside.
The greater the stocking density, the more frequent cleaning you need.
Closely confined without sufficient ventilation creates a vector for disease.

 

[Harmony Fowl]

Chickens do prefer to roost as high as they can get. Mine like to roost on the open door of the their coop until I come to shut them in at night; that’s just the highest place. In and of itself, I think they will sleep on the floor if given no other options, but they will take any other option, including outside the coop if they can access that.

Regarding nest boxes, I have mine on the floor. I couldn’t get the chickens to lay anywhere else, so I compromised and gave them boxes (which I wanted) on the floor (which they wanted.) My coop is walk-in, however, so there is no trouble accessing the boxes.

There is a conundrum with having boxes on the floor and no roosts: the boxes become the most attractive place to sleep. Sleeping in nest boxes results in muddy, poop-covered eggs and sometimes broken ones, too. I would put the boxes on the floor if you want and configure something just a little higher if you want to avoid building something big for roosts. Even a foot or two off the ground will be more attractive a place to sleep than the floor. Some of mine don’t sleep on the roosts, they sleep on railroad ties that form part of the coop interior. Maybe a pile of material like that?

 

[IvanK]

Hi Mitch,

Here's some useful tips:

1) Chickens feel comfortable roosting high. This is how they stay out of the reach of predators at night and even if you don't have any predators, the chickens' brains tell them that roosting high is a god thing...they'll be happier for it. If you keep them on the floor, they'll just huddle in the corner every night, wallowing in their own feces...chickens poop A LOT at night.

2) Nesting boxes should not be as high as the roost or under the roost (they'll get covered in poo) but it is still definitely better to have them elevated above the eye level of a hen to prevent egg pecking. Also, if the nests are as high or higher than the roost, the hens will use the nests to roost and again, they will be covered in poo....not good for eggs and not easy to clean. Chickens will always try and roost at the highest accessible point.

3) I'm not sure how your coop looks or what you have space for but a nest can be made of anything as hens are not too picky as long as they can fit. Milk crates for example work great on a few cinder blocks...simple, not expensive, removable and easy to access. They'll even make a nest in a bale of straw. If you want to build more formal/fixed nesting boxes out of wood, it's the same logistical concept; an accessible space a little ways off of the ground, away from the roost.
Now if your coop's entrance is too small for a human to enter for egg collecting, you can build sliding or hinged hatches in the walls beside the nesting area. Open the hatch, reach in, collect the eggs.
As for a roost, it can be made of a simple 2x4 with the broad side facing up/down (for easier footing).

Hope this helps!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Having a door on the nest box or even external nest boxes make egg collection convenient. Putting the next outside with hen entrance inside coop, frees up floor space if your coop is small. I only use internal nest boxes if I have plenty of space for the birds inside.
Don't put too many nests in - they won't use them. Even a large flock will be content with two nests. Some may only use one. A second nest is helpful in case you have a hen go broody.

 

[debid]

1st, I have to say: I love this website! It's at least as helpful and interesting for folks new into raising chickens as the BeeForum is for us beekeepers.

Now: I plan to construct, with a pro's help, a "minimalist coop" from specs I saw in the "Dummies" book -- which appears to coincide completely with one featured on Growing a Greener World. I noticed, though, that the specs don't feature a roost for the birds, and the nesting boxes (is there a better term for those?) are situated on the floor. Per one forum response, the birds don't care for being that close to the "ground" [coop floor]. And are roosts really mandatory? I didn't see a feature whereby I could easy-access the nests for removing eggs -- I'd have to squeeze into the coop for the harvest.

Any ideas/concepts/experiences-to-relate would be appreciated.....

Mitch

I'd ditch that coop design and build something more funtional. There are lots of good plans, no reason to build something you know will cause you headaches later.

 

[wannabe4birds]

Not absolutely mandatory but chickens like to sleep as high as possible. If no roosts are available they may either sleep on or in the nest box. The former means they'll be sleeping on their feces, The latter makes for poopy eggs.
If it freezes where you are, the roosts need to be wide enough so the chickens can cover their toes at night. Think a 2X4 wide side up.
How little of a coop are you talking about? The smaller the coop the fewer chickens you can have. They need a minimum of 4 sq. ft. floor space per bird inside.
The greater the stocking density, the more frequent cleaning you need.
Closely confined without sufficient ventilation creates a vector for disease.

Hi, Canoe; as of right now, the coop area would be 16 sq ft. I hoped to get 5 hens (the max allowed here in town). I'm thinking I may have to meet with my pal re: re-tooling the area specs a tad so I can accommodate 5 birds. That applies to a roosting limb, too. Here in eastern NC, we can have some nights during winter with temps down to near 0 degrees F.

Thx much for the insights .....

 

[wannabe4birds]

Chickens do prefer to roost as high as they can get. Mine like to roost on the open door of the their coop until I come to shut them in at night; that’s just the highest place. In and of itself, I think they will sleep on the floor if given no other options, but they will take any other option, including outside the coop if they can access that.

Regarding nest boxes, I have mine on the floor. I couldn’t get the chickens to lay anywhere else, so I compromised and gave them boxes (which I wanted) on the floor (which they wanted.) My coop is walk-in, however, so there is no trouble accessing the boxes.

There is a conundrum with having boxes on the floor and no roosts: the boxes become the most attractive place to sleep. Sleeping in nest boxes results in muddy, poop-covered eggs and sometimes broken ones, too. I would put the boxes on the floor if you want and configure something just a little higher if you want to avoid building something big for roosts. Even a foot or two off the ground will be more attractive a place to sleep than the floor. Some of mine don’t sleep on the roosts, they sleep on railroad ties that form part of the coop interior. Maybe a pile of material like that?

Much obliged, Harm -- sounds pretty workable. If I can get my builder pal to reconfigure my coop plans, maybe I (and the birds) won't have to worry about spacing and roost locale.

 

[wannabe4birds]

Hi Mitch,

Here's some useful tips:

1) Chickens feel comfortable roosting high. This is how they stay out of the reach of predators at night and even if you don't have any predators, the chickens' brains tell them that roosting high is a god thing...they'll be happier for it. If you keep them on the floor, they'll just huddle in the corner every night, wallowing in their own feces...chickens poop A LOT at night.

2) Nesting boxes should not be as high as the roost or under the roost (they'll get covered in poo) but it is still definitely better to have them elevated above the eye level of a hen to prevent egg pecking. Also, if the nests are as high or higher than the roost, the hens will use the nests to roost and again, they will be covered in poo....not good for eggs and not easy to clean. Chickens will always try and roost at the highest accessible point.

3) I'm not sure how your coop looks or what you have space for but a nest can be made of anything as hens are not too picky as long as they can fit. Milk crates for example work great on a few cinder blocks...simple, not expensive, removable and easy to access. They'll even make a nest in a bale of straw. If you want to build more formal/fixed nesting boxes out of wood, it's the same logistical concept; an accessible space a little ways off of the ground, away from the roost.
Now if your coop's entrance is too small for a human to enter for egg collecting, you can build sliding or hinged hatches in the walls beside the nesting area. Open the hatch, reach in, collect the eggs.
As for a roost, it can be made of a simple 2x4 with the broad side facing up/down (for easier footing).

Hope this helps!

It's appreciated, Ivan -- I'm learning by the minute!