Author Topic: Chicken bottom clearance (Read 2852 times)

sheli · « **on:** June 13, 2010, 02:16:48 pm »

Hello
Am a newbie chicken keeper - in fact don't even have my hens yet.

We have spent a long time discussing how to set up perches and still haven't yet come to a conclusion.

The perches need to be along the wall of the coop rather than across the width and I'm wondering how much rear clearance we need to allow the the chickens' bottoms so they're not so close to the wall that they poop down it.

We a little short on width so I need to allow the minimum space possible for their bottoms.

Thanks all.

bamford6 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 13, 2010, 05:57:51 pm »

get 2 planks or 2 boards cut angles on each end so they look like a hill put rails inbetween 3 best bet you can then make a pan, wood or metal to catch the poo in

Womble · « **Reply #2 on:** June 13, 2010, 06:21:38 pm »

OK, I have just been out with a tape measure

, and can confirm that the majority of poo falls between 5 and 6 inches from the edge of the perch. Having seen how they perch, I would allow 9 or 10 inches between the edge of the perch and the wall, for optimum tail-feather clearance

.

One of the best things we did was to place a sheet of coarse metal mesh underneath the perch. I've modified it a bit since this photo was taken, but the principle is the same - basically the poop all falls through the grid and into a plastic tray. They can't therefore scratch it about, which means everything stays very clean, and all you have to do is throw a handful or two of the old hemcore bedding over the poop every couple of days to absorb the moisture, and then empty the tray into the compost every few weeks.

HTH!

sheli · « **Reply #3 on:** June 14, 2010, 06:09:00 pm »

Hi

Thanks for your efforts in measuring, advice and photo - we've put in about an 8" clearance so I'm hoping this will be OK as we're a bit short on width, having to have an identical perch opposite. Hubby made perches so that hens can't get underneath them and step in poo but also so that I can lift them out easily to clean underneath.

We'll see how it works and if we need to make adjustments once hens arrive then we can.

Thanks again.