Coop is finished:)

[jaydweight]

So we finished our coop this weekend along with a 9x7 foot run with a ramp from the coop to the run. We put the chickens in the coop where their food is, their water is in the run. So my question is, when will the chickens figure out they can go up and down the ramp? They seem skiddish towards it and wont go up or down it wihout our help. What do you think?

By the way, the ramp is probably about eight feet long at a 40 degree angle.

 

[NevadaRon]

You need to herd them in and out for the first few days. I don't put food or water in the coop - they seem to pick up on the "program" of going in at night and coming out in the morning quicker that way. Also, food and especially water in the coop makes it much more messy! They don't need 24 hour access to food and water. Think of them being in the "wild". A chicken's natural behavior is to roost at night - they wouldn't go out foraging for food or water in the dark because, well, they can't see! And they would be vulnerable to predators who can see in the dark!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

If you can put a small light in there for a night or 2 they will start going in with no problem. I used a flashlight in my "playhouse" style coop. 6week old bantams walked up a 4ft ramp in 2 days after going into the pen. (I tossed them in the first 2 days)

Some folks say if they can find their way out, they will find their way back in again.

 

[jaydweight]

So I'm wondering if my girls will ever figure out that they're supposed to go up the ramp at night to go into their nice coop I finished for them last weekend. They have been getting out in the morning (although not at the crack of dawn but sometime during the light hours) but they don't go to their coop at night.

I've had to get into their run and put them on the ramp (which happens to be very long probably around eight feet) and then kind of herd them up to their coop. I have a light on in their coop and everything so I would think they would want to be in there as it has been dropping around 32 degrees every night in Northern Utah.

The ramp is about eight feet long with rungs that are about 2 inches apart. Is that too close? Should the rungs be further apart?

I'm hoping that one night they'll just figure it out, but each time I go out to check up on them they are huddled around each other in the run in the dark.

Any suggestions?

 

[NevadaRon]

I just put mine into the outside coop last weekend (Sat.). You need to physically put them in the coop each night for the first few nights. Last night (Tue.), more than half of them had already gone in on their own by the time I got out there. BTW I'm in Northern Nevada.

8 feet is an awfully long ramp. And, it does sound like the rungs are a little close. I use 6 inch spacing on a 3 foot ramp. Why is the ramp so long - to make the angle shallow? My experience is they don't mind a steep angle, as long as i isn't slippery.

 

[jaydweight]

Quote:
Yeah the coop sits about four feet off the ground and I didn't want it to be too steep, but it's probably only about 40degrees. Maybe I'll remove some rungs before I make the ramp any steeper to see if that helps. But I would think they would go up the ramp with my rungs, I don't know, I guess it's a trial and error kind of thing. We'll see what happens.

 

[NevadaRon]

Oh - well if the coop 4 feet off the ground then 8 feet is probably not too long for the ramp.

 

[jaydweight]

Quote:
That's kind of what I figured. I'll just keep it as it is for a few more days and see if they figure it out.

 

[chuckzoo]

When I first put my ramp in I sprinkled some chopped up lettuce on it going all the way to the top and into the coop.

They just followed the lettuce trail and got it right the first day:yiipchick

 

[jaydweight]

Quote:
Yeah I thought I'd try putting a treat on there and did with oatmeal. They love the stuff, but when I did, they were almost afraid of it...Maybe I'll throw some chicken in there, they like that the most.