Took my niece to a farm in Petaluma last weekend and their chicken setup changed how I think about my coop

Luna Grant · 2026-10-10T14:40:03.122255+00:00

I was up in Petaluma visiting family and we stopped at a small farm that sells eggs at the roadside. The owner had about 40 hens in a mobile coop he moves every 3 days, and he said it cut his feed bill by a third since the birds find so much on their own. What really got me was the roost height, maybe 18 inches off the ground, way lower than what I built. He said older hens were hurting their legs jumping down from high roosts, which I never thought about. I went home and lowered mine from 4 feet to about 2 feet the next day, and my oldest girl already seems to move easier. Has anyone else messed with roost height as their flock ages?

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Took my niece to a farm in Petaluma last weekend and their chicken setup changed how I think about my coop | Backyard Chicken Keepers - Rigidtalk