[kattcottrell]

At the moment my girls are living in a converted rabbit hutch, I read that their perch has to have rounded edges so we made a frame to fit the hutch which is about 2 inches off the ground and I used a couple of the slats from my kingsize  bed base as it was smooth on the edges, Mr katt went mad when he found out that I was dismanteling the bed for the chickens :oops:  anyway it works great,

 I'm about to buy a 6x4 shed and convert it ( well he'll be doing all the hard work and i'll be barking the orders) he'd never let me loose with a hammer, i'm not to be trusted, anyway we're gonna put some proper roosting bars in there and I know they have to be about 2x2 but all the pics I've seen of perches none of them look like they have smoothed off edges, so my question is do they really have to be rounded off or are they ok left square?

Sorry for rambling, as mr katt always tells me: less words carry more weight but can't do anything about it,,,,,he's kissed the Blarney Stone so its ok for him

God blimey Katt shut up!!    

[Porffor]

at you! had to laugh at using your bed! lol

We've used a pole type of thing.. it's large dowling basically - they girls seem fine on it, but not sure after reading on here if it's the ideal width. It's about a broom handle witdth.

[GrannieAnnie]

It's only the top edges that need rounding off a bit Katt, to make it more comforable for the hens to grip with their feet.

Although you'd think the poultry house manufacturers would think about this a bit more wouldn't you?  But many of them still put in perches which are not only squared off, but too thin as well!

Or you could use real branches!!!!

[kattcottrell]

Porffor, you should have seen the look on his face when I proudly appeared with some lovely smooth bed slats for him to make perches with    



Thanks Grannie,  I'll have to get the sander out then :shock:

so would 2x2 be ok as long as it was smoothed off a bit?

[Foxy]

Porffor, you should have seen the look on his face when I proudly appeared with some lovely smooth bed slats for him to make perches with    



Thanks Grannie,  I'll have to get the sander out then :shock:

so would 2x2 be ok as long as it was smoothed off a bit?

That is just so funny!!!! Loved to has seen his face!!!    

[kattcottrell]

Trouble is my cat sleeps at the bottom of the bed but now he slowly (over a couple of hours) keeps disappearing into the bed where I removed the slats  I must get around to replacing them with something---maybe some perches

[GrannieAnnie]

I've always thought 2x2 was fine, but someone mentioned they were told to use 3x3, but if you look at that size, it seems a bit of a stretch to me for their little feet!

[kattcottrell]

Well maybe I should get 3x3 cause if you let me loose with an electric sander it probably will be 2x2 by the time Ive finished, I've been known to get a bit carried away

Mind i'm not the only one, I remember when Mr Katt bought a new-ish sharpening stone thingy and he thought he would give all our kitchen knives a good sharpen---talk about getting carried away with  himself, they all looked like compasses and knitting needles by the time he'd finished  :roll:

[GrannieAnnie]

   

[too many girls]

i'm smiling at your posts katt, my dad things i've lost it were chickens are concerned,  when i asked him to look in the cow shed to see how many hens i had left after the fox had been, he saw his missing show jump (i'd used it for perches, starting on the bottom. then putting it up a notch every day or so) he never said a word..................................

[poultrygeist]

I used this. Studwork timber

You can use it either way and it's already rounded and smooth. Just saw to length. Got a choice which way you use it too.

Rob  

[Sadgit]

mine are 2x1 and I rounded the edges off at the top... However I used an electric plane to do it... err 1st go I had a tooth pick once i had finished.

[nosmo]

I am planning on using the leftover handrail from when we had a new flight of stairs put in.
Good enough for my hands so gotta be good for the chooks.

[kattcottrell]

I used this. Studwork timber

You can use it either way and it's already rounded and smooth. Just saw to length. Got a choice which way you use it too.

Rob  

Thanks Rob, that looks perfect

[Porffor]

Porffor, you should have seen the look on his face when I proudly appeared with some lovely smooth bed slats for him to make perches with    

I can quite imagine! my hubby knows better than to get me to help in that sort of Dept.

Hope you took the slats from the head and foot end of the bed

Talking off topic DIY.. hubby and I browsed Homebase and B&Q today (kids in school and playgrounp) looked at laminate floor and he nearly died of shock when i said.. ohh this is lovely and it's only £3.99 a pack.... the price i was looking at was for a strip for the skirting the pack was £22