Coop door question - does it need a ramp?

[momofthree]

The bottom of my coop chick door is 12 inches off the ground.........do the chickens need a ramp to up that? I have a ramp on the outside, because the coop is built up off the ground and they have about an 18 inch or more height to go down.

Mine are just chicks now, so we go in and put them out the door onto the ramp and then they flutter down. I am wondering about when they are full grown....will they just jump up and go out the door or what?

 

[momofthree]

i can post a pic if needed.

 

[flockmom]

I have a ramp for my pop door, which is about 12" higher than the floor, but, when I have moved it to clean, my chickens haven't had a problem going in or out without it. The one advantage to having a ramp is that no one can roost in the door and drop poo everywhere.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I have put concrete blocks or brick steps for some of mine but for the most part they can hop up 12". It is the baby chicks they hatch out that usually need the steps or if it is very wet outside it seems to help.

 

[NellaBean]

I have about a 12-18 inch jump to mine.

Those blocks are directly underneath the coop and not a 'step' for the chickens. They have no problem whatsoever going in and out. I did have a gimpy broken legged chicken and she could not get in without me helping her. Also, recently had a broody with babies and the babies could not get up there the first couple weeks. i added a short fat board as a ramp and they did fine. They are now about 4-5 weeks old and can easily hop in and out without any help.

I do have a pop door up about 12-18 inches on the opposite side of the coop, where there is a ramp outside but nothign inside. They have no problem hopping up to the pop doorway....but again, probably could not be done by little babies or gimpy chickens.

 

[Andi]

Okay, this is a little off topic, but...

Do you know why chicken coops are built with 2 doors (one for the chickens and one for the people)?

Because if it was built with 4 doors it would be a chicken sedan.




Okay, back to the topic.

My chicken coop is over part of the run and the door is on the floor of the coop. Our initial ramp didn't work so we took it down. When we were in the process of building a new design, the girls decided they didn't need a ramp. Its a 2½' drop from the coop door to the run and they do it with ease. Granted, my girls are adults. When you think about it, chickens are birds. Depending on the breed, some are pretty good fliers.

I'm working on hatching some eggs right now so we will have to get to baby proofing the opening if they hatch out.

One breed that I know of that was unable to make a 3" jump their entire life was Cornish X. It was humorous watching them try to perch on the branch I had in with them. The egg layers would hop up with no problem and the Cornish seemed to forget daily that they couldn't do it.

Enjoy your chicks!

 

[flgardengirl]

My coops are up about 16 inches. I have a few concrete blocks on thier flat sides for them to step down on. They don't really need it once they are half grown..they are just spoiled.

 

[valentinebaby]

If you want an easy fix, take a look at the 2nd pic on my BYC page. I bought one pre-made stair riser @ HD and cut it in 1/2 to make a 2-step riser - works great and the girls do use it when they leave their free-ranging activities to go in to the nest box from the front door. It isn't permanent, so I can move it out of the way when I go to change the litter in their coop.

 

[Dingleberry]

mY RAMP IS MY DOOR. tHEY FLUTTER DOWN BUT USE THE RAMP TO GET IN

 

[Ridgerunner]

Baby chicks can be a problem, but once they are a few weeks old, they have no more problem jumping up 12" to a pop door than they have jumping up 2 feet to get to a nest. That nest opening is often smaller than the pop door opening.