The poulet perch is a vital part of a crybaby coop . Learn from one chicken steward ’s experience why having the right wimp perch can make a big divergence to your flock ’s wellness and happiness .
Meet Joseph…
Joseph recently achieve out to me about an issue with his muckle . He be a few miles northerly of us , in a rural - zoned country in the next county . As such , he can keep an outright number of chicken on his property . He specifically chose to keep just laying hen and has about two dozen Orpingtons , Easter Eggers and Welsummers for a variety of egg colors .
He ’d kept them in a small garden shed , allowing them to roost overnight wherever they pleased . But he invest in an genuine coop in the beginning this leaping .
That ’s when the problem get . He noticed that his hen were act jumpy and stressed out in the dawn , as though they ’d stayed up all dark or had drunk a lot of strong java . Egg production then decreased .
Finally , injury started cropping up on many of his girls . He spied bloodied cockscomb , phlebotomise heads , missing back feathers and injured toes .
Joseph was stumped . “ These look like cock - mating injuries , ” he tell me . But there are no rooster in his flock .
No Obvious Reason
He inspected the entire coop to see if there was any way that a lowly predator had gotten in and was gnawing at , scratching up and stressing out his hens . Nothing . Everything was securely covered in ok hardware meshwork and well - calk .
He look into the fence around his yard to see if anything had dug under or broken through . It was also altogether entire .
Joseph even spent an entire day working on his laptop from a vantage detail where he could observe the coop and his flock and still beak up his home ’s WiFi sign . Nothing seemed out of the ordinary , other than the anxious , injured hens .
At a gross loss , he require for my advice . I was just as perplexed by what he had describe . I did n’t recognize how much I could really help him , but I figured I ’d at least test .
The Chicken Coop
Joseph charter me back to see his new coop . It is a substantial lulu that matches his compound - style nursing home . Lidded nest boxes were located on the south side of the structure , with a storage area on the Frederick North side and a pop door and Allium tricoccum go from the front of the henhouse down to his yard . The hencoop is elevate , provide the girls to retire beneath it for some nerveless shade on hot , sunny Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .
There were even windowpane box on the front window . ( Joseph had n’t adjudicate what to found there yet . )
Everything depend perfect . candidly , I was fleeceable with invidia . But then I opened up the back access doorway and discovered the cause of the trouble .
The Chicken Perch
Inside the master section of the cage was a eating and lachrymation bay large enough to allow multiple birds to drink in and eat simultaneously . Both the feeder and water boy were easily accessible for quick refilling . No problem there .
The other part of the coop feature three perches , still relatively new and clean , extending from the bay rampart to the south rampart , just above the entry to the nest box . The perches were approximately 10 or so inches away from each other — a slight close , but the chickens could still squeeze up between the roosts to roost .
The problem , from what I could tell , was the chicken perch . He did n’t have a laddered perch for his volaille . The chicken perch was all on the same layer .
Read more : understand lot dynamics will aid you help your chickens keep the peace .
1. The Chicken Social Hierarchy
volaille are super social animals , with a well - developed pecking order within a deal . There is an alpha female ( and male , if cock are kept ) . That alpha female convention the poulet rod .
She will unremarkably have a few trusted hen friends who answer as her lieutenants . Together , this oligarchy sets thepecking orderwithin the flock .
The younger hen and pullet are usually amongst the lowest ranks , along with any new gain to the flock . Every shuttle knows her place and understands that the queen bee and her court of chickens get the prime perch , the best nesting box , the choicest dustbathing area and first dibs at the affluent .
This is the way of the poulet . A well-chosen , well - adjusted spate tends to have a well - maintained pecking ordering .
Chicken Perch Position
By having the three chicken perches in his coop on the same plane , Joseph inadvertently interfere with his flock ’s social hierarchy . All of his hens were now sleep at the same horizontal surface . The alpha hen and her courtroom were now on equation with every other girl in the coop .
Regardless of which roost the hatful leaders select for themselves , there would always be other hiss at their level . This doubtlessly caused discombobulation for the raft when they first move in and cause the birds to feel stressed .
As the hens adapted to their fresh home , the perch positions continued to make problem . Lower - rank poulet could unknowingly roost on the alpha hen ’s choose perch . Hens wishing to rise in rank or challenge the alpha could intentionally place themselves on her roost .
The alpha biddy and her lieutenants not only had to defend their perch position but also had to continually cue the residue of the muckle about who was in guardianship . And with the perches being so tight to each other , the leader could easily reach other girls to deliver a slew or other physical C .
All this occurred in the name of maintaining social hierarchy .
2. Countering Cannibalism
Aside from the pecking order issue , crowd on the volaille perch may also have cause problems for Joseph ’s birds . While wimp dosnuggle together at nightwhile they sleep , they start moving about and disseminate out in the pre - dawn hours . Because of this , each bird must have aboutsix to 10 inch of rod spacethey can call their own .
Each of Joseph ’s perches was 48 inches in distance , which would fit eight birds per roost … if all of Joseph ’s girls were little birds . With large - sized Orpingtons , however — and his fold leaders were indeed Buff Orpingtons — more room per dame was postulate .
While eight Easter Eggers could agree on one pole well , only four Orpington chickens could do the same . Joseph ’s two twelve girls were overcrowded . Overcrowding is one of themain causes of cannibalismin volaille .
The stress and injuries his flock digest not only matched a pecking - order issue but were also signs of crybaby cannibalism .
3. Helping the Elder Hens
While Joseph ’s flock was only a twosome of years quondam and not yet at this item , eventually his chicken will reach an long time where jumping up to a high-pitched rod will no longer be potential . This will also be reliable should he resolve to add breeds that become very large , such as Jersey Giants and Brahmas .
A humbled pole will let larger girls and older chickens to still perch off the ground without the endangerment of injuring themselves hop up or down from a higher Gallus gallus perch .
Joseph seemed surprised by my conclusions . He ’d observe video online of coops that had a alike arrangement for their roost . Still , he was willing to try anything to bring some peace to his flock .
He withdraw the front two perches and reinstall them with new wall suffer at one and two feet down from the third perch … and at 16 inch apart . When he checked on his girls that very first night , he was once again surprised .
His alpha biddy and her buddies were on the high pole , all by themselves . The rest of the flock cozied up on the bottom two rungs , his younger hen on the bottom .
The next morning , he report back that his chickens emerged from his chicken coop expect content and well - rested for the first time since they move in . I ’m sure that , should I drive up to natter , I ’d find a happy group of girl , injuries mend , and one projected flock owner .
