Chicken ramp/ladder questions

[tri-5-ron]

I painted the inside of my old aluminum fishing boat once, and sprinkled sand over the wet paint. let it dry, and did it a second coat the same way. worked very well, no slipping even when wet with water, (or an occaisional spilled beer) LOL!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

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Same here. My chickens are big and fat so I made their ramp 12 inches wide with cleats every 6inches. I have another ramp on the inside too. They use that one more as a lauch pad to jump up to the roosts.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

What I do is to measure from the ground to the bottom of the pop door then multiply times 3 for my ramp length. I've not really checked the exact angle, but it's not too steep. The chooks use the whole ramp.I mount the ramp with a hinge so that it will swing up out of the way so I can clean the run. For traction I staple down hardware cloth the width and length of the ramp board. Works great.

 

[DianeS]

Ohhh, more great ideas! both of these:

I painted the inside of my old aluminum fishing boat once, and sprinkled sand over the wet paint. let it dry, and did it a second coat the same way.

For traction I staple down hardware cloth the width and length of the ramp board.

would be cheaper than the expensive garage floor paint I was thinking about, but accomplish the same thing. Thanks!​

 

[Smokin Silkies]

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The lower the angle the better, but I'll bet money you find they don't really use it all that much either way. They'll likely fly up and down more often than not if they're anything like my birds.

That's how my Buff Orps are. They never use the ladder/ramp. They jump in and out of the coop thats about 3 feet (almost) off the ground. But anyways, my ramp is 45 degree angle and I have pieces of wood every 6" or so width ways

 

[Heathercp]

My Australorps are pretty good sized birds and this is what their ramp looks like. We made it out of left over t1-11 siding and 2"x4"s for structural support. It works great for my girls without any cleats at all. Some walk up the ramp. Some hop to the platform. Some hop up half way. It's always dry, but I don't think it'd be any different if it were wet. That siding is pretty rough. When I was asking questions about how far apart the cleats should be, someone suggested putting hardware cloth on the ramp instead of cleats. That seemed like a good idea and I was planning to do it, but the ladies got here first and liked the ramp as is.

 

[TriRev]

This is my first flock and the little girls are getting big enough to get out of the house and into the run, but the waterproofed ramp is slippery and they have to flap and fly to get back up, they don't seem real happy about trying to get down either. I have some leftover shingles and was thinking about tacking them between the cleats. Think it will work? The ramp will always be shaded and dry, so there won't be any chance of burned feet...

Thanks in advance!

 

[monica_77]

Hello, I am also building a coop for my 4 little ladies, similar to the playhouse coop, no plan, just going by what I've seen on this site - tight budget as well. What's a standard size for the ramp opening? Should I divide the coop into two floors or just leave it as one big open space? They'll most likely be outside in the enclosed area during the summer. I live in North Texas so the winters aren't harsh, just frost and maybe snow. All suggestions welcomed!!
Thanks

 

[MarniSue]

Lots of great info here - thanks!

Marni

 

[eds500]

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