Roosts and Nest Box Setup In The Best Chicken Hoop!

The Best Chicken Hoop works great for laying hens but we always get the question "How do you set up roosts and nesting boxes?"

The answer is simple and there are actually several ways we have done it. None of which require setting up a grid of rails 1 ft off the ground like a high school football high knee experiment haha!

The first setup and the one I prefer is to hang the nest boxes in the center of the hoop and then to use small sections of pipe or c channel to create a half " V" roost coming off of the side of the hoop. 

To hang the boxes, we make a wooden frame out of 2x4s (the picture shows metal which we have since replaced) and hang it with cable to each arch (which is easily able to support the weight). This frame makes mounting the boxes easy and allows the bottom of the frame to support the bottom of the box.

As an added bonus with this system the hanging nest boxes in the center automatically level so if you are running on uneven ground (like us) you don't have to worry about your eggs bunching in the roll out boxes.

This method is also very compatible with our 5.0 automated feed lines and is how we have all of our hen hoops set up. 

The second method is to hang the nest boxes down the side walls and put roost bars down the middle. 

This photo came courtesy of Jonathan Denlinger one of our hen production partners. He has nice level ground so uneven boxes aren't a concern and he chose a side mount (he attached 2x4s to the side posts to mount against). 

His roost bars, hung in the center, utilize a Christmas Tree pattern and are simply built out of 1.33" pipe. 

Both methods work well and it is just a matter of preference on layout setup. The major point is that neither setup requires putting up with knee knocker bars and roost bars attached to them that create a checkerboard pattern impossible to walk through. 

Don't torture yourself and your help that way!

Keep it clean and open!