Chicken ramp up to roost questions?

[TcherDawn]

How wide should a ramp be, what should the spacing be for the "steps" on it (for full grown regular hens), and what angle should it be close to?

 

[tigerbarbd]

Hi TcherDawn, Maybe this will help

It is a 1"x6"x6' with 1"x2" treads app. every 6-7". We used a 6' long piece because our Perches are app. 32" off the floor.............Don

 

[teach1rusl]

Mine is very similar to tigerbarbd's...but my chickens rarely use it. They just fly up to the roosts at this point, but they're pretty young. So they may begin using the ladder/ramp as they get older...

 

[aherzlin]

I have the same question. My roosts are 4 ft off the ground so I'm not sure how easily they'll get up. I'm not sure if a ramp or a lower roosts to hop from would be better? Would greatly appreciate any feedback.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What breeds are you talking about? Some chickens can't fly, like Silkies or Frizzles. I don't know about Jersey Giants, how wekk they fly. I've never owned any of those.

What does your coop look like? Do they have room to spread their wings and fly?

How old are they? I've seen two week old chicks perform some amazing flying tricks, but maybe real, real young ones could use a ramp. They just won't need it for long.

There are exceptions but about any chicken can easily get up on a 4 foot high roost if they have enough room to work with. I've seen my full sized fowl fully grown hens clear a 4' high fence starting from the ground and have a foot to spare.

There is a whole lot about ramps on this forum. There are a few instances where the are needed, but usually they really are not needed.

 

[aherzlin]

Thanks very much for the response (trying to get this done today!). I have a variety (including silkies) and they will be somewhat free-ranged so all wings of 'flyers' will be clipped. Currently they have a couple feet on two of the sides and a few on the front (btw the roosts and walls). The coop is basically split in half (it was a two-stall barn) w/ the front half being their food and nesting boxes and the back half being a 4'x5' roosting area and then their door. I have plenty of room to build a ramp on the front half if I really want, but kind of wanted to keep it all on the other half. Whatcha think?