Building My First Coop

[adirondak5]

Just about done with roosts and poop boards , tomorrow I'll finish them up and get the nesting box done and blocked off .

 

[aart]

Just about done with roosts and poop boards , tomorrow I'll finish them up and get the nesting box done and blocked off .

What is that 'ladder' for?
Other than getting in the way to clean the boards?

Not sure what's on the other side of the pop door, but might be a better place for a ramp up to roosts.

Ramp outside pop door is rather narrow.
I like to go about 9-12" wide with cleats 1/2" tall spaced at 4-6".
Attached with hinge with removable pin makes things easier to manage down the road and to put a 16" concrete block under low end to adjust angle.

Sorry, I know the last thing you want to do is rework anything.

 

[adirondak5]

What is that 'ladder' for?
Other than getting in the way to clean the boards?

Not sure what's on the other side of the pop door, but might be a better place for a ramp up to roosts.

Ladder takes up less space than a ramp and is easily removed for cleaning boards .
Are you saying the birds will not use a ladder to access the higher roost ?

Ramp outside pop door is rather narrow.
I like to go about 9-12" wide with cleats 1/2" tall spaced at 4-6".
Attached with hinge with removable pin makes things easier to manage down the road and to put a 16" concrete block under low end to adjust angle.

The ramp is 6" wide ( what I had without having to do another store run ) , the cleats are 3/4" tall spaced at 6.5" , the ramp is easily removed with 2 screws if I need to make changes but I do like the hinge suggestion if I get time before the birds arrive . Looks like today is a loss for outside work , windy and raining .

Sorry, I know the last thing you want to do is rework anything.

No need to be sorry , suggestions are welcomed and appreciated . If I need to rework anything it isn't a problem . I just want to get this workable by the weekend , still have a lot of odds and ends to get done and other projects to get on .

 

[aart]

Ladder takes up less space than a ramp and is easily removed for cleaning boards .
Are you saying the birds will not use a ladder to access the higher roost ?

They probably will....just can't imagine reaching that far back corner of poop board with moving it. It might be fine, and might be good in winter as another 'place to be' for the birds.
I just wouldn't want to navigate around it.
Was thinking over here, but can't see rest of space:

The ramp is 6" wide ( what I had without having to do another store run )

Use 2 boards, cleat screws will hold them together
Setup(for tiny chicks) here shows main ramp(2 boards) up top is on tall block,
then 'chick ramp' goes to half block, then 'nest ramp' helps up to half block.

 

[adirondak5]

They probably will....just can't imagine reaching that far back corner of poop board with moving it. It might be fine, and might be good in winter as another 'place to be' for the birds.
I just wouldn't want to navigate around it.
Was thinking over here, but can't see rest of space:
View attachment 1929849

Oh , I see why you suggested that now . I can walk around that ladder , there is enough room and I can reach the far corner of the poop board with no problem without getting tangled in the ladder . That was one of my concerns when I decided to do it that way , being able to reach .

Use 2 boards, cleat screws will hold them together
Setup(for tiny chicks) here shows main ramp(2 boards) up top is on tall block,
then 'chick ramp' goes to half block, then 'nest ramp' helps up to half block.
View attachment 1929848

I would still need to make a store run as I don't have anymore 5/4 lumber for the ramp , I'd rather just pick up a 1 x 10 , probably cost about the same as 5/4 x 6 anyway .

 

[K0k0shka]

What's a good angle for the ramp? Can a steeper angle be balanced out by taller cleats? Or does the ramp just have to be long to get the right angle?

 

[adirondak5]

What's a good angle for the ramp? Can a steeper angle be balanced out by taller cleats? Or does the ramp just have to be long to get the right angle?

From what I've been reading and seeing 45* is about the maximum angle for a ramp (that's pretty steep , more than I would care for) . I like aart 's suggestion to attach the ramp with a hinge then you can adjust the angle easily . I am not sure what the angle of mine is but its no where near 45* . There are some pretty steep ramps on youtube , I don't see much of a difference with cleats , 1/2" or 3/4" , just something for the birds to get a purchase on .

 

[adirondak5]

One forgotten piece I just ordered was the gable vent for the back end of the coop . I wanted steel because of raccoons , don't trust the flimsy plastic vents . Nobody near me stocks anything so had to online order one from Lowes . They say its available for immediate shipping but I always found Lowes to be turtle speed on anything shipped . I figure it might be here next week .

 

[aart]

Can a steeper angle be balanced out by taller cleats?

Not really, traveling up is good, but traveling back down can get glitchy.

From what I've been reading and seeing 45* is about the maximum angle for a ramp (that's pretty steep , more than I would care for) .

Yup!
30-35° is optimal.

 

[blackdog043]

Ladder takes up less space than a ramp and is easily removed for cleaning boards .

I use a ladder instead of a ramp. It's not connected to anything, so I just flip it the opposite way against the wall. Then I have clear access to the board to scoop and level out the PDZ.
A ramp would be more in my way, for my set up.