I’m going to make this quick for you. I very much dislike staggered roosting bars.

I know you’ve read elsewhere that your chickens prefer them because they allow hens higher in the pecking order to assert their status. These hens get to roost up high and look down on everybody. All is peaceful in the world when this hierarchy is maintained.

But the truth is the pecking order is a myth that’s been popular for far too long (I’ll get back to this in a minute).

Here’s why staggered roosting bars are the worst:

Staggered roosting bars are not desirable for most chicken coops because they introduce a limited resource (the high position) that chickens need to compete for. Roosting bars at a single level eliminate this need for competition, as well as the unnecessary aggression that results from that competition.

Forget about pecking order theory. Pecking order theory was developed to describe the behavior of chickens who lived in poor conditions and didn’t have enough food to go around. This means they had to fight over food.

You can learn more about this in the video below. In this video, I respond to one of my readers, Russ, whose hens all roost on the top roosting bar, despite not having enough space. He thought they’d work it out through the pecking order, but none ever developed.

I respond to Russ’s problem in the video below. You’ll learn about why pecking order is total b.s. at about 2 minutes and 45 seconds into the video.

Here’s your takeaway:

• If staggered roosting bars are working in your coop (i.e., no coop aggression), then leave them be.

• If you’re having some fighting in your coop, consider placing your roosting bars at one level.

• If you’re deciding how to design your coop, design your roosting bars at one level.

Sources

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• Schein, M., ed. Social hierarchy and dominance: Benchmark papers in animal behavior. Halsted Press, 1975.