I solved the roost problem with a tip from Joe Salatin's operation. No roosts. I actually had this in mind already since my egg layers are meat birds. They can get up on the roosts in the current coop just fine, though one girl (13lbs) takes her time getting down. I have a CX rooster and 2 CX hens coming up that I'm merging and there is no way the roo will be able to roost since he's already 14-15 lbs. I recently converted a 15x6.5 hoop house into a 97 sq ft fully enclosed coop and didn't bother putting any roosts in it at all; not even low ones. They can sleep on the floor. This is how Joe's egg layers over winter and how it is for the egg layers living in the Chicken & Rabbit high tunnel(s). I'm working on their new run area now, which will be 24x19. Even though there are only 6 atm, I won't move them into the new coop until the run is finished, as they are already used to having almost 400 sq of run space in the old setup.
I solved the roost problem with a tip from Joe Salatin's operation. No roosts. I actually had this in mind already since my egg layers are meat birds. They can get up on the roosts in the current coop just fine, though one girl (13lbs) takes her time getting down. I have a CX rooster and 2 CX hens coming up that I'm merging and there is no way the roo will be able to roost since he's already 14-15 lbs.
I recently converted a 15x6.5 hoop house into a 97 sq ft fully enclosed coop and didn't bother putting any roosts in it at all; not even low ones. They can sleep on the floor. This is how Joe's egg layers over winter and how it is for the egg layers living in the Chicken & Rabbit high tunnel(s). I'm working on their new run area now, which will be 24x19. Even though there are only 6 atm, I won't move them into the new coop until the run is finished, as they are already used to having almost 400 sq of run space in the old setup.