Calculating roost or perch space per chicken in a coop?

[Scotty from BI]

Funny, I was watching my flock going into their coop for their sleeping positions and several of them seem to tussle over one or two spots which for reasons I cannot begin to understand seems to be a coveted spot. First image is the perches before they went to sleep. Second image, These two want to squeeze into spots that don't exist by wedging between two birds already in position. In the third image, they were able to squeeze in, but look how much space is still available to the right. the third image is IR showing their final sleeping position after dark. Funny how they squeeze into the space in back where the two boards intersect. Believe it or not there are 11 birds there. So they never even took advantage of the extra room available to maneuver, they just squeeze into spots that they seem to think were reserved for them. Reminds me of two people fighting over a pre-assigned seat on an airplane for which both passengers have tickets.

 

[ejcrist]

That is funny, and typical based on what mine do. I think my birds are related to yours. I just got in from checking them about 1/2 hour ago and as they do every night, and just like yours, they were crammed on the far end of the roost. I have 9 Leghorns and 16 Barred Rocks, and four of the Leghorns always roost on a short piece of 2X6 that I attached to the studs to hold the joist hanger that supports the end of one of the 2X4's. I have no idea why they roost there - I'd think it would be a lot more uncomfortable than the 2X4 but they squeeze together on it with their heads facing the wall about an inch away. Who knows what chickens think.

By the way, that's a nice setup you have there with the camera and all. Your coop looks awfully nice too. Your gals should consider themselves fortunate.

 

[Scotty from BI]

Thanks, One of the benefits or maybe it's a curse, is that with the cameras, I can watch their behavior and as a result, I have made numerous modifications to accommodate them. For example, when I saw that the late arrivals wanted to get up on the left side but there was no easy way for them to access it, I added a parallel rung below it. This is before and after.

 

[ejcrist]

That is a great benefit that I never thought of. I'd love to have a camera so I could watch and see which birds are laying and how often once they start. It'd also be beneficial when they start slowing down after they peak so you could make accurate decisions on which birds to cull and when. Right now I'm just thinking I'll cull all of them all at one time when aggregate production drops to a certain point since they're all the same age. That way I can start a new flock when it's time and not to have to go through the work of integrating birds which sounds like a pain. After talking to my neighbors I found out they're all ok with me getting a rooster in the future so I'm thinking after this flock I might expand to 3-5 flocks/lines for both breeding for production and eggs. The only difficult thing is deciding which variety to breed since there's so many good ones. I really love the Barred Rocks and White Leghorns and they're both supposed to produce really well. I read Leghorns aren't very good mothers and rarely go broody so I don't know if I'd want to breed them. Also if someone's going to breed chickens it would be nice to breed rare or threatened breeds so you could help add to the population. I guess by raising several flocks the attributes of birds such as Leghorns and their high egg production becomes less of an issue since you'd have a much higher volume of eggs being laid every day. Anyway I'm getting off topic here, but yes, I really like your setup. You did a great job.

 

[Jonidoodle]

Beats the heck outa me. Probably some chicken engineer or something back in the day that never raised a single bird. Not to knock engineers - I have a lot of respect for them, but it's probably one of those rules of thumb. I guess if we followed that estimate we'd be guaranteed to have enough space if we had an entire flock of stuck-up birds that didn't want to rub shoulders with those birds lower in the pecking order, but I've learned if you have 10 birds you'll end up with 10 different personalities so I think it's a bit of an over-estimate. I also read to allow I think it was 10 square feet per bird in a coop/run but I have 256 square feet for 25 birds and they have way more than enough room even when they're being rambunctious. I'd be very comfortable putting another 5-7 birds in there. I wish I got a few more but I don't want to ruffle their feathers now that their universe is in order and my leghorns should start laying in the next week or so. I'm thinking along the same lines as you, that a happy hen is a productive hen. I even try not to BBQ chicken on the grill when they can see me.

BBQ

 

[sqatkins]

This is an aerial shot of my coop perches. I have a ladder system for access and have created a lower perch in front of the highest level. obviously, all the chickens want to perch at the highest level, but I have 11 Wyandottes ( heavy breed) There are 90 inches of upper perch which divides out to approx 8 inches per bird. I have read in several places that for large breed chickens, 10 to 12 inches per bird is desired to keep down squabbles and conflicts and reduce stress, especially in warmer months when they like to spread out.

So my question is this; do the lower "ladder" rungs which are technically perches count as far as overall perch space or is it just the top level of perches that count when calculating perch space per bird? While, they all want to be on top will some just go to the lower level and sleep at night? Or will this create more stress as they battle it out for top "premium" perch space? Or do some birds just know they are lower in peck order and resign themselves to the lower rungs without fuss? My birds are only 10 weeks old now so, they will need more space as they mature and I am not sure if I should cull out a bird or two or if this set up will support them all without causing problems down the line. Thanks for your input.

Yes, the lower perches count. Higher status birds will grab the top spots, and lower status birds will likely occupy the lower rungs, and that is perfectly fine. Looks like you have plenty of space for 11 wyandottes! I have 3 levels of perches, and so long as everyone finds a spot to roost, they are happy.

 

[saysfaa]

The 1 foot per bird of roost space is a rule of thumb that is a good compromise between working most of the time and being doable most of the time. Or, anyway, doable most of the time when people are choosing a coop or choosing chickens to put in an existing coop; less so when people already have a coop and chickens.

It is not a magic number - a half inch more or less per bird is not going to make much of a difference in how often a given set up will work. At the same time, narrowing the margins in roost space often comes with narrowing the margins in other ways - like floor space and ventilation. It also matters whether roost space is the only thing that is tight.

Also, the flock size matters. Three feet of roost space for three chickens is much different than thirty feet for thirty chickens. If 2/3 of the flock likes to squish together then you have just about enough for one chicken to stretch her wings in the flock of three vs yards of empty space in the flock of thirty. If two chickens don't want to touch anyone then the other one doesn't fit but the other 28 can easily fit. Flock size also matters because the ends of the roosts are often against a wall so not as usable.

Some set ups with much less roost space may work for a given flock, even a small flock - at least for a while. Even when it works, there is less margin to accommodate changes in the flock.

 

[saysfaa]

So I am still a little unclear...what I am wondering is if they will compete for the most desirable higher perches to the point that they will create a stressful unhappy coop..

Probably not. And if they do, the issue is flock politics more than the layout of the roosts. The focus of the conflict will change to something else rather than go away.

 

[Krugerrand]

This was from 2016. They should have their perches figured out by now.