Chicks not coming out of coop

I have a fairly high coop, I open the side door to let them out, I am using a couple of runners for loading up tractors and stuff, it is fine angle wise but none of the chicks want to come out, it is warm and they are somehwere near 3-4 weeks old, some are really feathered out, any ideas? the picture does not show the ramp, the ramp is off the larger side door, the smaller door I use for ventilation only

dimag333 said:

I have a fairly high coop, I open the side door to let them out, I am using a couple of runners for loading up tractors and stuff, it is fine angle wise but none of the chicks want to come out, it is warm and they are somehwere near 3-4 weeks old, some are really feathered out, any ideas? the picture does not show the ramp, the ramp is off the larger side door, the smaller door I use for ventilation only

Click to expand...

If your ramp is anything like the one in the picture i would recommend a flat board with cleats going across and all the way to the ground. They are probably horrified of the angle and not having enough traction.

its not, it is a flat board, in any case one of them jumped out of the front today and one of my dogs decide to bring it back to the coop while I was out, my dog must have knocked through the hardware cloth, RIP Clubber Lang

dimag333 said:

its not, it is a flat board, in any case one of them jumped out of the front today and one of my dogs decide to bring it back to the coop while I was out, my dog must have knocked through the hardware cloth, RIP Clubber Lang

Click to expand...

Why show the pic you posted of that is not the ramp?
How did dog get thru HC, how is it attached?

only pic I had, they are going through the side door, not the front, it was stapled with the heavy duty stuff, but my one dog (reese) is a rott/shepard mix and probably was just nosy and knocked it off. Shes about 160lbs

deleted

how old are the chicks? it took mine a couple days of walking to the pop door, staring out and walking away before they finally got the nerve to come out.


I do agree with those who mentioned the ramp in the pic, if that's not it, what purpose does that serve? I can't see a chicken using that at all to go up or down, it doesn't look like it would hold up very well anyway

At four weeks they could easily fly up and down if they wanted to. I have some steps on mine which some use but some just fly up and down. It’s about two feet high.

Sometimes when I open the pop door all of them are on the ground within 15 minutes. That’s pretty rare though. Sometimes when I open the pop door it takes them three days for the first one to build up the nerve to hit the ground. Usually it takes several hours or maybe the next day before one goes exploring. Each brood is different. It’s fun to watch them look out the pop door but not come out. They are curious but just not brave enough to take that step.

Sometimes when one hits the ground he stays out for only a few minutes, then hurries back inside. Sometimes he stays out for the rest of the day. Often when one goes out a few follow but most stay inside for a while. Sometimes practically all follow immediately. They are not consistent on what they do. Each brood is different.

About the only thing that is consistent is when they finally do start going to the ground they all hurry out about as soon as the pop door is opened.

Just be patient. They’ll work it out.