For the summer, more and more Russians are moving to live in their country houses, and many live in the bosom of nature permanently. There they grow various vegetables, fruits. And some try to keep poultry on their personal plot . Former citizens do not have experience growing it, so the choice of the majority falls on breeding chickens. It is believed that this bird is the most unpretentious, and returns from it do not have to wait long.
But few newly-introduced poultry farmers understand that in order for the hens to give the maximum number of eggs, they must have comfortable living conditions corresponding to their physiological needs. You should always remember that domestic chicken is a bird.
Before she was tamed by man, she had to live in wildlife. There she had numerous enemies, from whom she hid in the trees. She did this day and night and continues to behave this way now thanks to her innate instincts. Therefore, for normal and convenient maintenance, you need to build a roost for chickens with your own hands.
The big mistake of ignorant poultry farmers is to use shelves as a perch. Chickens on them, due to their physiological characteristics, can not sleep normally. The main reason is the arrangement of the legs of the bird.
She sleeps while her knee bends. In this position, all the tendons going to the paws are pulled. In the chicken, a muscle clamp is activated and her fingers are bent. This happens if the chicken settles down for the night on a stick. Her fingers clasp him, claws dig into the wood. In this position, she sleeps well and cannot fall.
When settling down for the night on a shelf, the chicken sits down and fingers are bent anyway. There is nothing to cling to claws. And it turns out that the bird is in an unstable position on crooked fingers. This can not be called a complete rest, the return of the chicken becomes minimal. At night she does not rest, which affects her fertility.
Training
If you are planning to get a poultry, then you need to take care of how best to equip its home. Do-it-yourself roosting for chickens is the right decision. You can make the house in a way convenient for you, choosing the suitable material, size and shape.
Many poultry farmers make the roost for chickens removable, which makes cleaning the room much easier. The optimal material is wood bars of 50x50 mm in size. Their edges should be made rounded, for this you can use a plane and sandpaper, otherwise corns will form on the paws of the bird.
Observation of chickens showed that in winter they are perched, snuggling against each other, transferring the heat of their bodies to neighboring birds. In summer, they sit down more freely and spread their wings. These features should be taken into account when preparing to roost for chickens. In the warm season, it is worth adding bars on which birds sleep at night, and in winter to clean them. Thus, hens will be denser on them, which means they will not freeze.
Perch species
The size of the perch for chickens depends on how many they will be in the room. When starting the construction of the structure, the poultry breeder must know what they are. Then he can easily choose the shape of the roost and the species that is most convenient for the bird. And she will not experience discomfort in the chicken coop.
There are three popular types of roosts: made from rounded wood bars, located along the edge of the chicken coop; in the form of perches; table-shaped with removable wooden planks. The perch for chickens, the photo of which you see, has two bars and a pallet filled with sand.
Perches
This is the simplest and most sought-after material for the construction of a perch. It occupies a small space of the chicken coop, birds are comfortable on it. Typically, a perch structure is mounted near one of the walls or in the warmest corner.
Often an inexperienced poultryman arranges perches at different levels. To do so is to provoke chickens to conflict between individual individuals. It is known that the leaders of the bird flock claim to places at the top. To build a two-level rooster for hens with their own hands is not recommended from a hygienic point of view. After all, the hens located at the top will defecate on those under them.
Whetstones
Usually they are arranged along the perimeter of the walls of the chicken coop. This arrangement is good because it occupies a small volume of the room and gives its inhabitants the opportunity to easily find a place they like. Such a roost for hens with their own hands will make even a beginner poultry breeder.
Table with bars mounted on it
This design is good for its mobility, the table can be removed from the chicken house at any time and cleaned.
Recommendations to be observed during the construction of the roost
Each home master is obliged to adhere to certain rules when independently building a roost:
- The height of the structure should suit all birds.
- The bar is chosen so thick that the chicken paws easily grab it. And so she can sit comfortably. The approximate width of the bar is ½ of the chicken's open paw.
- The distance of the bar from the wall should be such that the bird does not touch it with its tail.
- The poles are made so long that the chickens sit freely on them. Nor did they bring each other any inconvenience.
- Perch for chickens should be placed in a warm, far from the entrance place of the house.
Perch sizes
The length and number of bars depends on how many birds will be kept indoors. For example, a bar 2.5 meters long is suitable for placing 10 chickens on it. Each bird is placed 18 cm, while 30 cm should be taken into account for indentation from the walls.
Placement of bars
The height of the perch for chickens should be equal to 1 meter. Many inexperienced poultry farmers unjustifiably raise it higher. This is a gross mistake. In order to climb a high perch, the chicken will have to spend a lot of time and effort. Flying from it, it can injure other birds, which are already below.
All bars must be at the same height. No need to conduct experiments, it is worth adhering to accepted and tested rules. The fact is that hens, obeying their instinct, trying to hide from enemies, will tend to take their place on the top bar. All this will provoke fights between them.
Perch making
It’s very easy to make perch for hens with your own hands; any poultry breeder can do it. For its construction you will need:
Whetstones are wooden.
Planer, hammer.
Sandpaper, nails.
Double row perch
A convenient place in the chicken coop is determined, and the support strips, previously prepared and processed, are mounted. They are fixed at a height of 90 cm from the floor, their length on the sides is 60 cm.
Next, a bar 50x50 mm is cleaned of all irregularities with sandpaper, nailed to the support. The second is fixed on it at a distance of 30 cm from the first bar.
In order to make it easier to maintain cleanliness in the chicken coop, a pallet should be built under the perch to assemble the litter. It is placed on the flooring, which is made of boards and is located at a height of 40 cm from the floor. The pallet can be wooden, metal or plastic. To facilitate cleaning, sand or sawdust is poured into it.
Portable rooster
If you have an old unnecessary table on the plot, do not throw it in the trash. It may come in handy. It will make a decent mobile rooster for chickens. Do it yourself with your own hands. For this you do not need to make much effort.
We take an unnecessary table and nail two slats on the sides to the legs, on which we pre-manufacture the grooves. Then we insert two bars into them, fix them. Perch is ready. Now hens can be located on it and have a quiet rest. Below we place the pallet, with sand or sawdust poured into it.
Materials at hand
Many owners of country houses that breed birds and solve the question of how to make a rooster for chickens do not invent anything supernatural, but use improvised materials for its construction. I must say that it will turn out fresh and comfortable.
For example, a well-functioning perch emerges from a simple wooden staircase. To do this, support bars are nailed to the walls of the house at a height of 90 cm, a ladder is attached to them in a horizontal position. That's all. Hens feel great on such a perch.
Bars or poles can be successfully replaced with ordinary branches of a suitable size. In addition to their main function, they will play the role of decoration of the house.
Summary
Having carefully studied the material offered, you can choose the roost that is most suitable for your house. Make a chicken coop with love, try not to miss a single trifle. Getting started, prepare all the materials and tools in advance, then it will pass quickly and, most importantly, with high quality. Birds, feeling your concern for them, will repay you with excellent productivity and excellent health.