catawba coop ramp

[KansasKate]

This may be a late answer, but...
I have had some concerns about that with my Catawba, too. I've been leaving the ramp down because of the heat as well. The ground is hard as a rock (drought, clay soil), so I'm not too concerned right now, but for long term I might be concerned about raccoons or possums. I was thinking that I'd open one of the egg doors and replace that with hardware cloth so they'd have a window/ventilation. That way if it rains they wouldn't be soaked (as replacing an open side would expose them to the elements). They really only need one nest box anyway. It seems that the "upstairs" is a little unventilated for those of us in hot areas, IMHO....

 

[confusedturtle]

I dont think we have a catabwa (sp?) style coop but ours does have a ramp. I haven't noticed any predators around our house so I leave our ramp down, the girls just go in and out as they please. They were very quick to teach themselves when to come in to roost which was nice, I thought it would take awhile for them to learn it. We have dogs & cats so they seem to keep some of the predators away. Im a little nervous since we used chicken wire rather than hardware cloth, I will be going back and putting some hardware cloth around the lower portion of the run, just to be safe.

 

[larsonll]

I just built a Catawba Coop and haven't put chickens into it yet since they are just over a week old. I decided to line floor of the lower run with 2 x 4 vinyl coated wire since they can still pick but I can still deter predators. I hate that the scratching will suffer, though. Do they still stay happy with this?

 

[patman75]

Quote:
My have done fine with it for 3 years. I let them out to free range every day if I can. They will need access to someplace to dust bathe, when they free range or some sand in a kitty tub will do.