DIY Chicken Roost
When we first got our baby chicks we were so excited to get them out of their brooders and into their new coop that we put up a temporary roost that was the perfect size for them. Tiny. Like most babies though, they grew wayyy too fast and before I knew it they were running out of space on their tiny roost. They began to take over window sills and food dispensers for roosting so I decided I had better take action.
When deciding what I wanted to make for their new roosts I kept a few things in mind. I knew that I wanted roosts that…
- could be easily removed for cleaning purposes.
- gave my hens the proper amount of space. (8 to 10 inches across for each hen, depending on size of breed. If making a roost that goes up vertically, like a ladder, you need to make sure there is enough horizontal space between each roost to insure that their waste won’t be dropping down on to each other. At least 12 horizontal inches should do.)
- were 2-4 inches wide and fairly smooth to avoid injury or infections like bumblefoot.
- fit into the layout of my coop without taking up all the walking space and being in my way for daily access things like watering, feeding, egg collecting.
- looked nice and matched the look of the rest of our coop/run area.
I decided that I wanted to use the space in the corner of the coop. So using a measuring tape I measured from where I wanted the tallest point of my roost to be in the corner down to the floor at roughly the angle I thought I would want. Shown in red below.
After I had that measurement, I wanted to make sure I could put at least 12 horizontal inches between each roost. I did that by measuring the length shown in green below. In my case the measurement was 80 inches. I divided 80 by 12 and got 6.6 so I knew that I could have at most 6 roosts in order to keep them spaced at least 12 inches apart horizontally. Since I didn’t want to have a roost too close the ground I decided I would go with 5 roosts instead.
Next I measured roughly where I thought my roosts would be (shown in blue below) to get an estimate for purchasing wood.
For each bracket (red measurement) I ordered a 2x6x10. For the roosts I decided to order 2×6’s but have them ripped in half length wise to create 2×3’s. Many places you buy lumber will make cuts for you but charge per cut, worth the couple dollars extra not to have to put on a rip guard and do it myself. Always give yourself a little extra lumber in case you make a mistake or wrong cut.
All the lumber I bought was doug fir and here is what I ended up with…
- 2- 2x6x10
- 1- 2x6x10 ripped in half length wise to make 2- 2x3x10’s
- 1- 2x8x8 ripped in half length wise to make 2- 2x3x8’s
We sanded all our lumber. Taking extra care on 2×3’s where our chickens feet would be to make sure they wont get cuts or splinters.
Then we cut the bottom of our 2x6x10’s at 45 degree angles. As shown below. This end of the bracket will fit flat on the floor. Your brackets will need to be mirror images of each other so keep that in mind.
For the top of these brackets we cut them at 45 degree angles like this as well as on a 45 degree slant so they will miter up to each other in the top corner correctly. The brackets should both be the same length and match the red measurement from above. Make sure that when measuring you go from the longest point to the longest point for your cuts.
You can do this by adjusting the angle on your circular saw to 45, and then making your cut on a 45 degree angle as well.
Once I had the brackets cut I wanted to put them up to check that they fit okay and to help me measure and make sure that my notches for roosts were marked appropriately.
Once I saw it on the wall I decided how high off the ground I wanted my first roost to be then divided up the remaining length by 5 because that is how many roosts I wanted and ended up marking every 17 inches as shown below.
Now here is where things get a little tricky. I wanted to triple check that my notches would be cut right so I cut a little piece of my roost material at a 45 degree angle on one side and flat on the other. I marked it at exactly center and then lined it up with my marks on my brackets at every 17 inches and put small marks on either side of the roost material onto the bracket.
However, since I wanted them to lay flat and level I knew I would have to put them at the correct angle so I used the angled side and lined it up with the bottom mark, being sure that the top corner was flush with the top of my bracket and traced a rough outline of it.
Now because I wanted them to be level I placed a level, using the bottom right corner of my traced outline as my starting point and drew a level line. Make sure that your bracket is standing up at the angle it will be once installed for the leveling steps.
Once I had my level line I used a speed square to draw straight lines at 45 degree angles that lined up with my traced outline and level line.
After you have your lines marked you will almost be ready to cut notches. Try to remember that your cuts also have to be cut at a 45 degree slant in the correct direction So that your roosts will fit in correctly and be flush with the wall once finished.
Using my circular saw with the blade angled at a 45 degree slant I cut along the marks that would have been my red and blue lines above only to the point they met the level line. See below.
Because of the angles I found that it was very hard to cut the bottom line. I used a combination of a jig saw and a sawzall to complete these cuts. I did one of these notches for each roost on each bracket. Once finished they looked like this…
On my other bracket I ran into trouble when the blade on my circular saw would not allow me to make cuts at the correct slant for the other side because it only adjusts one direction. Remember that these brackets can’t be the same, they have to be mirror images of each other. I used a sawzall but had to take extra care to follow my lines.
I sanded all of my cuts and notches and then reinstalled them to measure lengths for roosting bars. Making sure to measure longest point to longest point and then cutting them at the correct 45 degree angle to fit properly.
I checked the roosting bars for level, and then touched up any places that needed stain and laid the roosting bars all in place.
I used stain because it seals the wood against moisture and might also help protect wood from being infested by parasites or mites. Plus it looks pretty and matches!
Here is the finished product!
And here it is with every single chicken I have tucked in on it for the night! I think it’s safe to say they approve.
