Top 5 Chicken Roost Mistakes To Avoid! (#5 May Surprise You!) 

Here is a video about the chicken roosts that we built! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nEwrfQ1gIQw.html

Retired farmer with a thumbs up for your chicken husbandry. I clean the coop twice a year. Early spring an late fall. The shorter time in the winter is because they do spend a lot more time in there during the winter. When it is swept clean I spray the whole interior with a solution of dish soap tea tree oil and water. Then while it's still moist I dust with diatomaceous earth. Especially roosts and nest boxes. I also keep a dusting bath for them with beach sand diatomaceous earth and wood ash.

Treat your chickens water with Metronidazole on occasion for coccidia has saved my flock for decades. I have had birds near death and treat them with it and they snap back fast. People don't realize how important parasitic control is important especially for free rangers!! Do your research folks. Dissolve a tablet in water. Treat up to 5 days. Works great my chickens are 13 years old this year and healthy. God bless you for caring Sir.

I use a lime wash for inside our coop and roost. It’s now over two years and I’ve never deep cleaned the inside. Just maintenance. It’s what the Amish do. I’ve been thankful to have it. It’s a special lime and it goes on clear, but dries white, which is really nice. Looks like a white wash.

I wanted 6 chickens. Its been less than a year and i am now at 28 chickens. As i write this comment i have a 4 day old silkie sleeping on my lap

I have been raising chickens for 15 years and never have. I come across such an invaluable resource such as this video you make so much sense, and for such a young man, you sure are wise. Thank you so much I’m now a loyal subscriber, my chickens thank you to.

8" is exactly what the birds need when the temperatures are low, because they ( at least ours do ) tend to huddle really close together to share body heat... that said, I agree they need more that the standard 8". We built our roost big enough that the 200 or so chickens we have, we could probably double our count and still have room to spare. Ours are so spoiled, they have their run of the barn, we only bought 20 chickens, we collect all the eggs in the lay boxes, and still get chicks. I think our girls have figured out a good hiding spot to hatch because in late spring we start seeing new chicks all over the place, it's a healthy flock that give back to us twice. We're going to need a bigger barn if they keep doing what they do.

This guy definitely knows his stuff. I have 60ish chickens and they would always peck and fight for the top tier so what I did was made all the perches for the chickens the same hight at 4 foot high all ten feet long and now they are way happier and a LOT less pecking and fight etc. Thx for the info

I appreciate your speedy speaking. It makes watching this video so much easier. Thanks for the tips! Subbed.

I made my roost on hinges, so I can fold it up against my ceiling of my coop and out of the way completely for cleaning my coop floor. Top roost also is 18” away from the wall, so the chickens don’t get their poop on the coop wall either. I built the coop out of waterproof plywood that has plastic laminate glued to the surface of the waterproof plywood. The coop is 12’x12’ with 6’ high ceiling so plenty of room to stand up in it for a guy only 5’8” tall! With it all being waterproof, I used my power washer inside the coop to spray wash everything clean. Always spray wash on hot days so the coop dries out quickly as well. Coop also has two 6 ft doors on the back, so it really easy to scrape out the soiled bedding right out the back of the coop into a cart to take to the compost pile. I try to clean the coop least once a week and takes no more then 15 minutes to do a floor cleaning and put fresh bedding down. I do keep a metal putty knife in the coop too to scrape off any poop that gets on the roost and I also bought a metal floor scraper with a metal handle same length of a broom and the metal scraper can be sharpened for scraping anything off the floor that gets stuck to the laminate flooring. Soiled bedding once loose from the floor, I use a snow shovel to scoop up the soiled bedding and toss in the cart just outside the coop. Tried to make the maintenance as easy and quick as possible since I’m almost 66 years old and also disabled. All and all for my first time building a coop and first time also raising chickens too! I’m very happy with how this coop turned out. Built it 4 years ago and the coop still looks brand new! It’s actually a coop/run/tractor on wheels! Overall size with the run is 12’x20 and the coop stands 3 ft up in the air so chickens have a nice dry area under their coop as part of their run with another 8ft x12’ x 12’ high in front of the coop where I can walk into the run. There’s screen doors on each side of the run to get inside. Makes it nice not having to walk around the coop to get in the run too! I had a old washing machine I took out the glass in the door that’s sort of shaped like a bowl and cut a hole in the front wall of the coop just above the floor level that the glass sticks out roughly 8” outside the coop like it did with the washing machine door. Chickens will get up inside the glass from inside the coop and look outside. I get quite a few compliments on the washing machine glass in the coop wall! Kind of uniqu. e you don’t see very often! Oh it’s also got 20 Dolly wheels on each side of the coop/run with a receiver hitch where I can attach the hitch to my truck to move the whole thing around my property like a tv trailer. Run area all covered in hardware cloth to keep the predators out. Only problem I didn’t thing about happening, is the darn moles/voles actually have dug holes right under my coop wheels making the wheels fall into the holes. So now moving the coop going to be a pain getting it out of the mole holes! Only way I can think of resolving this issue with the moles is to dig a trench on each side where the wheels will be and fill the trench with concrete. Sort of like some older driveways that have two strips of concrete for the car wheels to drive on. Got least a 1000 ft to move the coop tractor back and forth and hopefully not have to need to clean the run areas. Just let the run areas to compost themselves and hopefully have time to grow green grass or clover for the chickens to eat when I move the coop back on a reused area! Highly doubt anyone will see another coop/run/tractor like mine? When people see it for the first time I get some funny compliments like WOW! WHAT A KICK ASSSSS CHICKEN COOP! LOL also had it called the Trump hotel for chickens! Added a metal statue of a large rooster on the roof of the coop that keeps guard over the flock. Hawks must think it’s a real rooster since I put it on the roof of the coop no hawks have tried to attack my chickens in a while! I also let chickens free range on the 5 acres pasture from sun up to sun down. For a while I had troubles with hawks and owls killing my chickens. But the predators been leaving them alone now, hopefully it stays that way? Really makes me sad finding dead children laying in the field!

😊 tree branches here! Some driftwood collected, nice and smooth on their little feet❤

I find the best to be a 2x4 with the 4” side up. I use a drywall tape knife to scrape poo off surfaces.

I first put a cylindrical roost up highest (5 ft) and a two by four roost diagonally from corner to corner just an inch lower. The chickens seemed to prefer the two by four even though it was too short for them to all fit. So I replaced the top cylindrical roost with a two by four at the highest level, and moved the cylindrical one to a lower level on the "ladder". Everybody seems happy with this arrangement and they all have plenty of space on the top roost. Also, because we have pretty cold winters in Northern Nevada, I made the top roost about 18 inches out from the wall, to protect them from the extreme cold.

Diatomaceous earth is your friend. I would add more roosting bars on other parts of the shed. This will help with the pecking order issues. I also do the deep compost method. I change the bedding out every 6 months. Having roosting bars way up is good just make sure they are a little lower than the vents in the winter. This will keep the combs from getting frost bit.

I see a lot of successful raised coops have a steel mesh floor, it serves several functions. 1 inch squares are small enough to hold straw in winter and stop poop accumulating, plus you can rake out the fallen straw poop mix for the garden. Removing most of the straw in hot summers help keeps the chickens cool with good airflow, 1 inch squares is still comfortable for them to walk on.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences!!! Will keep you posted as we get our first coop built, thanks to your great tips!!!

I can tell you really love your chickens. When you talk about their little toes, I knew. Thank you. A lot of this is so common sense. I loved it. Thanks.

Such a great video and just what I was looking for. Loved the health factors and keeping stressors low!

Hi from Japan! Just seen your movie for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed your explanation about making a chicken coop. Thanks for nice info about 5 chicken roost mistakes. Very informative!

Man, I like your videos. All solid info, no filler or fluff. Subscribed

Great video. Chicken math is definitely a thing especially if you have a rooster. I started with 8 birds. Not really sure how many I have now. I have 3 runs and 3 coops.

I love this! I’ve got most of my silkies sleeping in our nesting boxes and this makes sense. I already planned to upgrade the roosting bars but now I’ll take this suggestions into consideration for my planning.

Excellent pointers. My roost has skinny natural pine poles. The chickens seem to love it. It’s rubbed smooth from years of walking on it. Mine is hinged at the back and raises up for cleaning.

Great, practical advice. For the first time ever, we have 2x4 roosts and they are working really well; they stay really clean and the hens nestle down nicely on top of their feet.

Great video! Most of this is common knowledge for a farmer. This is a great introduction video for someone looking to make their coop better for their flock! I use tree branches only because I like to keep things as natural as possible for them.

Never thought about their toes the way you explained it. I'm gonna change all their roosting wooden poles and go with 2x2s. Great info.

Thanks for the advice!! Especially about the roosting pecking order. We are all new to this and excited about raising little 🐥 We will be sure to check back as we go along. Thanks again!! The Jones Family Kentucky

I love how that one chicken in the background is calling you for attention the whole video.

I’ve always used tree branches (usually pine) and they love them.

Excellent video!! We are building a coop now with 10 in mind, I hadn’t seen the ladder idea, but I love it! I think we will build this instead of mounting roosts into the coop walls.

Good advice only mistake I had thought of doing was the plastic one thanks for helping me avoid that one. The removable roost is important and something many might overlook. 🙂👍

Very good information and advice! Thanks for sharing your opinions and thoughts! Subscribed/Liked

You are way too much fun Ann. I love how you are always up for a challenge.

My dad hinged top of the roost to the wall and put a hook in the ceiling so he could lift the bottom of the roost and hook it to the ceiling out of the way. The way you did yours makes it easier to clean the roost.

This information is INVALUABLE to a newbie like me! Thank you!

Good point on the metal roosts. I wasn’t planning on them but we get temps into triple digits for months and metal would be dangerous.

I built my first chicken coop at 14 years old and now I'm 18 and I still use it. I'm kinda just watching videos about chicken sometimes to see what I can add or improve to my coop. What I use as a roost is 2 tree branches and I didn't know about the heat thing that you talked about in this video but luckily I have placed the branches pretty high up.

Really good video with a lot of great information! Thanks and God bless you and your family!👍👍

Your chicken is cracking me up. My blue Dark Meat walks around like "baaaaaaaaaaawk" all the time 🤣

Chickens lucky to be in your care. I'm new to this and this video is most helpful. Thank you

I used to live on a family farm where we had about 2000 chooks (chickens) split up into 4 sheds of about 500 each. For out roosts, we hung 4 by 2 timber from the ceiling on a frame using wire about 18 inches off the ground. Each 4 by 2 cross piece was maybe 18 inches apart. The spacing allowed for the birds to jump up and down from the ground directly into their position they were after - so that 8 inch rule you spoke of would work. For the most part the timber remained relatively clean with most of their droppings going over the side. Having the roosts was important because when they were on them, it protected them from crowding and smothering each other. Where I live the weather only gets down to about 0 degrees Celsius and when this happens they birds would huddle together on the perches. Each night they were locked into their sheds to protect them from foxes.

Outstanding. Brilliant. Thank you. You gave me a wonderful idea. Foam insulation covering whatever medium, would make a fine grabbing material. Plus they can pack at it and play with it. Keep the good lessons coming my good brother.

I life in Utah as well. I’ll definitely need to watch more of your videos for how environmentally similar it’ll be for my birds

Thank you for sharing your video, its very practical and full of knowledge and can follow and overcome such issues you highlighted 😊😊😊thank you and stay blessed

Thank you for this! We are reworking our roosts, because we have cliquey chickies and 2 new pullets we need to get in before winter. I think we will make 2 ladders that meet at the bottom in the middle, maybe.

Thank you! I sure learned alot about a chicken roost.

Husband just built me a new coop. Love finding this video today, I now have inspiration for the roost for our girls!!

We planted 8" round PVC pipe with cap,screwed on Manzanita branches horizontal to other posts making a big 20ft long section linked to 10ft one, a little lower, then back along other 20ft wall. 7 hens.

Absolutely golden video. Great advice.

Whitepepper Farms, Thank you for your thought an suggestions, HBW

Very informative and insightful, thanks for sharing.

Allways a big Yes to people that give proper advice looking through the eyes of the animal and their needs..and explain the why and how to do it. ❤Better for the animals and making sense to people who give the care.

You make total sense. Only thing I would do differently is round up the 2x2 cause it's probably not super comfortable to try to grip around a square edge

Amazing advice man! I love this huge poop and the idea with the roost as a giant ladder - Super cool, I might as will now start to upgrade our current chicken gear!😃 Love it, thanks so much!!!

My coop is an old 8x8 wooden shed, I have a similar ladder style roost, made from 2x2 square boards, I put 2 hooks in the upper wall that the top rung hooks into, so I can simply lift the ladder roost off the hooks and remove it to clean out the coop, there are also 2-2x4’s up near the ceiling that they can access from the ladder roost

I have no idea how I ended up here but now I know about chickens...

I have 8 young hens ready to start laying. I have them in a 4x8 portable coop. I turn them out at daybreak every morning and lock them in at night. I have a pretty large back yard that's fenced so they have lots of room to roam scratch eat bugs and so forth. For my roost which may be the wrong thing is I have a metal rod ran through a floating tube and secured so it won't roll with the hens on it. It's a two tier roost. Usually 6 hens on the top and 2 below but at times all 8 will be on top. They are only in there at night. So far it's working well. I enjoyed your video

New subscriber. Your video is very informative. Just getting started with chickens and in the process of building our coop.

I am planning to make style roost this for our new coop with a hinge type system to flip up for cleaning

Great Idea...seems pretty easy too. Thanks for sharing 👍

great vid... I heard 2x3's were best and I have used this and find it to be just about perfect..!

A chicken need to stand erect to deficate. Make the nesting box alittle lower than they can stand. Will always have clean eggs and a clean box.

Great Video!! ThankYou!

Good advice I'm cleaning in a couple days and looks like I need some adjustments.

informative! Will keep this in mind!

Good advise. Thank you!

I hung a thick tree branch from the ceiling, and put a ramp for them to get up there. They love being as high as possible. It's easier to clean underneath if hung from the ceiling. I used cardboard from the ceiling to create a warm pocket for them. Pecking order is definitely a thing and the 2 oldest bossy chicks need a ton of space. Great vid, thanks!

Good advice, thank you.

Liked and subscribed. Love from Australia ❤️

We use 2 x 4s and clean the coop once a month. 😊 great video!

super awesome thank you, do a video on types of chickens. or one on your construction of chickens

I love your channel, love hearing you yell "hey there neighbor"

Thanx so much for the excellent advise

Great info. Going to build a ladder roost for my coop now.

Very informative, thank you

That was great! Subscribed!

I'm new to having chickens 🐔.. I was a kidast time I was around chickens 🐔 😅.. but I built a coop out of pallets turned out good. But I'm glad I watch this tonight because tomorrow I'm doin the roost and was goin to use a 1x4 . Thanks for the tip. I'll ribs some 2x4 down now.

I used 1x3 lumber and took a router and knocked down the corners with a radius. The entire top surface is rounded now and a perfect fit for chicken feet.

Thanks for the tips.

Great video. Started with chickens this past year and your channel has lots of good info.

Everything you mentioned in this video is right on. At first my nests were 2 ft off the ground and had a roost on the other side just like yours but only 5 rails, but we screwed it to the wall. After a while I built one big nest 8 in off the ground, as they all lay in the same nest anyway and less likely to sleep there now. I have since added big 3-4 in branches and 2X4s out from the original roost that they use as a ladder up to the 2X4's etc. The roost is none removable....its in there! But I rake around it, only 2 legs of the roost are in my way, and I use a long handle garden hoe to scrape off the poop, and hose it down mid summer. It has a lot of ventilation if I open window and big door (they can't get out, it has a secure screen too). Or I can close it up if it snows etc. I really liked the video and am going to share it on FB on 2 chicken groups I am in. I see a lot of people who make mistakes when setting up their nests and roosts. Thanks again. *ALWAYS WEAR A MASK WHEN CLEANING OF FILLING FEED BUCKETS!

Good job’xplaining things young man. Thanks.

Great info!

Getting my first birds this weekend , built the hoop coop and attached a nice box for the roost. Found some good thick bamboo for the roost stick. Going to try that, if it doesnt work out. Im building the ladder!

Found some old pool cues, used for a roost.perfect size for chicken feet and strong. One cue easily fit 4 chooks.

Informative video thank you I enjoyed it

Excellent info. We need more people talking about roost angles of the boards. So many people have that corner at a bad angle.

Learning so much from your videos

Thanks for the free info. I'm new to your channel.

Wow that’s great! Thanks!

Thanks for sharing.

Great ideas, thank you! Idaho

Awesome video !

Very good information! 🐣

Thanks for the information😊

Just subscribed. New chicken owner of four. I’m so happy that I found your channel.

Thanks for the advice. I learned a lot.

We took a page from the Chicken Chick on our design. We made a poop board that slides under the roosting bars so you can utilize all the space in the coop. The chickens can use the space under the poop board. We put the roosting bars all the same height. We have less issues with bumble foot that way. We use 2 × 2 in the summer and switch to 2×4 in the winter. Check out the Chicken Chick...she has some valuable ideas. Great video and ideas. What breed of hen was making all the noise?

Great info.... thanks!!

I enjoyed your video. Keep putting out good content.