Solitary chicken - need advice

[rev master]

Hi,

I've just started building a chicken coop and would like to know how much room should be above a perch? and can the nesting boxes be on the ground or do they have to be higher and if so how high do they have to be?

Thanks for any replies

[Egluntyne]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

 

The nesting boxes in the Eglu are more or less at floor level.

 

Some wooden houses seem to have them about 8 ins above the ground.

 

The Eglu is approx 1 metre high at its tallest point, to give you an idea.

[Mutrix Farmers]

Have a look in the gallery, there are some really great coops around. You could always PM someone if you liked the look of their coop to ask dimensions etc.

 

Welcome to the forum.

[meezers]

Hi,

Our coop is 4ft long by 2ft wide by 3ft tall sloping to 2'6"tall at the back, the nest boxes are on the floor of the coop at one end, we put a shelf 14 inches above them to stop the chooks pooping in them, we have 2 perches one runs lengthways and sits on top of the shelf , so is at just over 14 inches high with about 20 inches head space above it, the second perch goes across ways and sits above the first perch, so the head height above that varies depending on which side the chooks sit. Hope that makes sense, I'll try to take some pics if it helps.

[rev master]

Thanks for the replies they have helped a lot.

I have read that if a perch is too high the chickens can hurt there legs from repeatedly jumping off so what is the maximum high that can be used before this happens?