Perch in front of nesting boxes

[emorems0]

I came across another thread recently talking about how the chickens weren't investigating the nesting boxes and it was suggested to add a better perch in front of the boxes. Now I'm evaluating my coop plans and wondering what a good distance is for those perches...

My plan at the moment is to have 3 nesting boxes about 3" off the floor (6" to the top of the front slat), and a second row of 3 nest boxes about 20" off the floor. I hadn't thought about creating a perch in front of the upper boxes, but it would be easy enough to add. How far from the nesting boxes should the perch be?

And here's another one... I'll have roosts running across the coop parallel to the nesting boxes. The closest one was planned to be about a foot away from the nesting boxes... too close? The plan is 2 roosts, 40" long, about a foot apart (staggered height 2-3' off the floor). Reasonable for ~6 bigger chickens (black australorp and RIR)?

This is going to be our first coop and I think I have a good handle on most of it, it's the little details that are getting me since this is our first experience with chickens.

Melissa

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

Yes, I would put a little perch in front of the upper nesting boxes, but, make sure the upper nesting boxes are still lower then the roosts, so they don't end up sleeping in them. Also, six nesting boxes might be overkill for 6 birds. We just have one giant nesting box for nine. So far so good.

I would place the little perches about an inch below the box or so? Also, I think a foot between the best box and the roost is a little too close. Not sure if they would have ample room to jump up to the roost and move around and such.

 

[Percheron chick]

Definitely don't need to waste your time building 6 nesting boxes. 2-3 is all you need. My 15 only use 3 boxes max out of 8. (took and old bookcase and made nesting boxes out of it.) You do want a perch for them to land on before entering the box. About 6 inches away will give them room to poop and not have it land inside the box. Roosts sound about right. If you have a window, put one in front of it so they can sit on it on the winter and work on their tans.

 

[emorems0]

I guess I had planned on 6 nesting boxes because that structure will make up the shorter wall and it was just easier design-wise. It occurred to me last night though that I could rearrange that wall and put the loft on that side (above the nest boxes), cutting the nest boxes down to 4 (2 bottom, 2 top).

Thanks for the info on the perches and the roosts. I do have a window planned for in front of the perches and also plan on using this clear PVC roofing to help with light in the winter as well. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Palruf-26-in-x-8-ft-Clear-PVC-Roof-Panel-100423/100038031

Oh, and the roosts are all higher than the nesting boxes... upper nesting boxes are about 20" off the floor, roosts are about 24" and 30" off the floor and the 2'x4' loft (above the nesting boxes) is 34" off the floor. Should I build some ladders/ramps or will they be able to jump up to the roosts/loft on their own?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you have Silkies or other breeds that can't fly? If you do you may need a ramp or ladder. Otherwise a normal chicken can easily hop up that high.

 

[emorems0]

No silkies, mostly Black Australorps and RIRs, hopefully our Yokohama egg will hatch okay (it's the one my 6yo picked to be hers!) and I don't know much about them other than that they are smaller than the others.