chicken ladder

[jermoatc]

I just started a new back yard flock for the first time. I built a really nice coop a couple feet off the ground with a chicken ladder. Its not too steep. Less than 40 degrees. I just dont think they know how to use it. Is this common? Any tricks to getting them to use it? I have tried trailing treats up and down it. Ive put their food down on the ground to try and coax them out.

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

Can you put scratch or some sort of treat on the "rungs"? Chickens will do almost anything for food!

I really should pay more attention when I read.

How long have they been in the coop? Try putting a couple of birds out on the ground and they will want to rejoin the rest.... somebody has to give in and use the ladder.

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

oops. I forgot to say:

 

[Badbaby05]

How close are your rungs together?? Mine use a ladder everyday, they need them pretty close together around 3 to 4 inches apart at the most. Lots of treats especially scratch tossed on ladder. Good luck!

 

[jermoatc]

Thanks all for your replies. I just got back in and I tried putting some and then all of them on the ground and a couple walked right back up the ladder. A couple skipped the ladder all together and just flew up to the pop door. I live in Colorado and we just had a -20 (temp not wind chill) cold snap so they have been inside for a couple days. It was nice yesterday and today though. I left a trail of scratch on the ladder and a pumpkin scattered on the ground along with their regular food. If they get hungry i suppose they'll go out. Thanks for your input.

 

[SJchicks]

Funny story: When ours were first transferred to their coop, we started by putting them in it for a few hours during warm afternoons. We tried everything - treat trails, etc, to get them to go "upstairs"...no luck. As we sat there on our patio, all discouraged, it started to get dark. Those little girls just lined up and trotted up that ladder like little chicken robots. We laughed so hard at our stupidity. The hens probably kept thinking, "Why are they trying to put us to bed when it's not bedtime yet?" Even if we leave them to "free range" all day, they never fail to put themselves to bed.

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

Welcome to BYC! I started with chickens over the summer and the people of BYC have been great. Please visit my BYC Page for my blog links that you may find informative or amusing.

Mine were suspicious of the ladder at first. Had to let the dense ones use the people door the first couple times. As they grew, they had no trouble using the ladder. Now the only problem is ice.

 

[EssexGirl]

Give them some time and they will figure it out. My husband built the same kind of coop and for a while the chickens either jumped or flew straight in ignoring the ladder, but pretty soon they got the hang of it. We're just putting another ladder in the coop because we adopted two hens that had never been used to roosting on a perch and we have gotten tired of having to lift them onto the perch and getting a faceful of flapping wings!