coop access ramp - spacing of cross-pieces

[prairiepearls]

So, in scrounging through the basement for something to use for my chickens to access their coop (it's 2 feet off the ground; pop door is about 1 1/2 feet above the ground), I happened across a long narrow piece of plywood with 1x2's attached!! I had torn it out of the back of a pantry cupboard when doing some renovations, and the 1x2s were shelf supports! My only question is: the 1x2s are spaced about 10 inches apart -- Is that close enough together to accommodate the chickens, or should I add more 1x2s in between each pair that's there now? Note: the ramp/ladder will be about 4 1/2 feet long to rise the 2 feet to the coop -- I'm choosing a gentle incline for aesthetics -- to match the slant of the diagonal bracing of the coop base structure.

 

[Imp]

I think that will be fine. It's not like they will walk up it demurely. Mine mostly jump on and off the ramp, and it is much steeper than yours will be. You can always add more crosspieces.

Imp- Now you need to post pix.

 

[gryeyes]

That will be perfectly fine.

I was about to post - just reading the subject line and before seeing what you wrote - that if you have some scrap hardware cloth left over you can stable it to the ramp instead of using any cross-pieces at all. I placed some on mine, with the ends folded under the ramp so it doesn't get curled up to snag chickens, and stapled the sides down.

It works fine. No chance of any cross pieces coming loose and nails sticking out.....

 

[prairiepearls]

Cool! Thanks for the advice!

Imp - I have pics posted on my BYC page showing my progress to date.

 

[Imp]

Quote:
Ah yeah. I remember those pix. Nice, I have a rubbermaid coop also.

Imp

 

[prairiepearls]

Quote:
So, Imp, where are YOUR pictures? ;-) I'd love to see what someone else has done with a Rubbermaid shed!

 

[Imp]

Quote:
So, Imp, where are YOUR pictures? ;-) I'd love to see what someone else has done with a Rubbermaid shed!

Oh No! I'm being challenged to do something with my BYC page.

OK I'll work on it today, since I can't do much yard work in the rain.

Imp