perch height in the run?

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miless2111s

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I am in the closing stages of the run construction (good job as the girls are coming on Wednesday) and am trying to work out how high to put the perches in the runs. Now I know that a logical answer is to wait and see how high the girls can get (they'll have one wing clipped) but I really want to get all the sawing and rubbish out of the way before they come :)

We're having a Road Island Red, White Sussex and Blue Morrans so if you've got any ideas I'm all ears. The easiest option would be 3' off the ground but I don't want to mess around putting something in that's way to high :)

They'll have logs in the run so the under achievers will have somewhere to go I guess :)

Thanks

Miles
PS I promise to put some pics up of the high security installation I've built to keep the fox out and make you laugh at the over engineering :)
 
Hi Miles,
The three breeds you've chosen aren't very athletic or flighty, and are fairly large and heavy birds, so it would be best to give them fairly low perches, about 15 ins off the ground would be good. My perches are like this and the hens spend a lot of time up on them, just sitting companionably and watching the garden. With biggish breeds there is a potential problem if they have to jump down from 3ft high perches, it might strain their legs, and if they should land on anything sharp it might cause foot infections.
If you had been getting Leghorns then they would have enjoyed high perches, but most hens are quite happy just off the ground. Perches need to be 2" or 2.5" wood, with the top edges rounded off or sanded down smooth for comfort.
You cannot over-engineer fox defences, short of gun turrets - but maybe you do have those? Looking forward to the pics anyway.
 
Not sure it's legal to use land mines around the hen run... Looking forward to seeing what you have done.
Having driven home last night to see a young fox heading for my run, I'm glad that you've taken precautions, & am VERY glad for the advice that I was given on this forum before building my run. :-)17
 
Marigold said:
Hi Miles,
The three breeds you've chosen aren't very athletic or flighty, and are fairly large and heavy birds, so it would be best to give them fairly low perches, about 15 ins off the ground would be good. My perches are like this and the hens spend a lot of time up on them, just sitting companionably and watching the garden. With biggish breeds there is a potential problem if they have to jump down from 3ft high perches, it might strain their legs, and if they should land on anything sharp it might cause foot infections.
If you had been getting Leghorns then they would have enjoyed high perches, but most hens are quite happy just off the ground. Perches need to be 2" or 2.5" wood, with the top edges rounded off or sanded down smooth for comfort.
You cannot over-engineer fox defences, short of gun turrets - but maybe you do have those? Looking forward to the pics anyway.
Click to expand...

Great, thanks for that - saved me another job and also removed a risk for the girls :) We're going to throw a few logs in for perches rather than make specific perches up. That way we can vary the run a little and maybe there will be bugs etc for them to find. Anything we need to worry about with this idea? :)
 
I fear I may have over hyped the anti fox aspect :) Though I have considered something like this however I can see a number of problems with it (field of fire / obstructions / shooting the kids / my incompetence etc :)

What I have actually done is build the run on a little wall 2 bricks high which in turn is set on a foundation of 0.5m of concrete, good luck digging under that Mr Fox. The run is made of 3x3" timber with 13mm galvanised welded mesh though we only have 19 gauge at the back as we had to change the design after the neighbour changed his mind about us using his wall as the rear wall of the coop. That said there is only a 3" gap to access the rear of the run so hopefully that will not be an issue. Though having watched this video I am considering putting some spare mesh over the gap but I suspect I may be over doing it if I do. :)

The run is fully covered (Onduline) and the coop is 22" off the ground and made of ply. The coop is simply over tall but like the run (6') I don't like bending down and contorting myself into spaces so I've made sure I don't need to :) I'll put some pics up on Wed when the girls are due :)
 
That all sounds fine, Miles. What area of run space have you provided in sq. metres?
I expect logs would be OK but I think they would actually prefer a nice straight horizontal perch all the same, firmly fixed to resist their weight as they constantly jump up and down, then there's no competition for the highest spot. If you get a good long length of timber you can fix it to the run uprights framework with wooden or metal brackets, about 1ft out from the sides.
Its good to have the coop off the ground, not only for the reasons you mention, but so they can get underneath it and have a nice dig in the bedding. A lower coop just wastes run floor space. What will you use on the floor?
 
we've got 6" of Auboise on the run floor and will have a few inches of it in the coop.

We will have 4 hens and they have enough space - 75 Feet^2 (I checked on here and indeed some people think there's enough room for 6 comfortably) so we're happy with this aspect.

I'll see about adding a perch at 15" off the ground then - don't want competition really. I've run out of 2x2" wood so maybe 1x2" will do with sufficient support in the middle - I'll have to see (I don't really want to join two bits together as there will then be a gap and much sanding to get the warp out)

We've got a child's paddling pool from Argos full of play sand for a dirt bath. Sadly the sand is a tiny bit damp so that may need to dry out which is a little frustrating but we'll have to watch and wait on that one.

ANY other tips / comments are more than welcome as we're all new to this and I prefer not to have to make mistakes to learn :)

Regards

Miles
 
Your bound to make mistakes Miles, everyone does, just try to stay relaxed when things don't turn out as you might expect. Be prepared for the chickens not wanting to roost in the house for the first couple of nights, sometimes it goes smoothly and they go straight in, other times you will find that the instinct to roost as high as possible takes over and they will want to sleep on top of the house, if that happens wait till it is dark and pick them up and put them in the coop. Can't remember what the subsurface of your run is, but if it is earth then they will dig out their own dust baths soon enough. 2x1 will be fine for perches provided it isn't too long a span, 1.5m would be fine. If all of the birds have come from the same supplier you shouldn't have much in the way of pecking order issues but if you see them fighting the rule is don't intervene unless you see blood as it is counterproductive. Hope you enjoy your chickens.
 
Good advice from Dinosaw, as always. Just like to add that when you buy POL pullets they've usually been raised in a shed or similar with no perches so there are two problems for their little minds, how to get into the coop up the ramp, and what to do once in there. If they sit on the floor, just lift them on to the perches for a few nights and they will soon learn.
 
We're lucky - they took themselves off to bed from the second night. They're sleeping on the floor of the coop at the moment all huddled in a group. We've got reasonably young birds - their POL is expected to be August / September and I think the perches in the coop maybe a bit of a jump at the moment; I think willow (the biggest) could do it easily but if her friends are on the floor I guess she'll stay there for a bit. This isn't an issue is it?

The run is 4" of Auboise - it will be 6" soon as they're beginning some very strong scratch behaviour which is seeing them down at the weed control fabric & covering their feeder (which will be suspended by the end of the day) :)

They all came from the same batch and have been living together from chicks so hopefully there will be no issues.

Miles
 
Glad they're doing so well, Miles. Go out after they've roosted and lift them on to the perches for a few nights then they'll soon learn what to do. If they've been brought in without perches they will need to learn this new behaviour. If you get them to perch, there will be less chance that they will want to sleep and poo in the nestboxes and make the eggs messy.
 
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