do they really need a ramp?

[BlueMouse]

I'm just finishing converting half of our shed into a chicken house, and I have a design question for the more experienced chicken owners. The pop door is going to be 4 to 6 inches off the ground, probably rather closer to four by my eyeball guestimate. Do the chickens really need one of those little ramps to get in and out?

 

[WildBilly]

Good question. i just thought about this today. i personally have a ramp for my 5 month old chickens ..... and a family friend who had chickens before me never had a ramp and his chickens are outside all the time.. i often wonder if i should have not had a ramp for the chickens and just a door on the ground... i never found an answer to this one but they seem to like the ramps and the ground door if there is no snow and they have a reason to explore the ground outside. Great question and i hope i led you to a final idea.

 

[WillowChick]

I'm just finishing converting half of our shed into a chicken house, and I have a design question for the more experienced chicken owners. The pop door is going to be 4 to 6 inches off the ground, probably rather closer to four by my eyeball guestimate. Do the chickens really need one of those little ramps to get in and out?

Nope

But they do like it...

Mine is about 4 inches off the ground too, we built a ramp for aesthetics, but when it falls off they have no problem getting in and out.

This was the end of the building phase. Please excuse the mess!

Willow

 

[conny63malies]

with 4-6 in off the ground all i would offer is a rock or brick as a step. My grandma did it that way.

 

[colburg]

It's a matter of personal preference. Do they NEED it? NO.

My coop door is 18" off the ground and I have no ramp, ladder, or stepping stones.

 

[BlueMouse]

thinking about it more it might depend some on the size of the door perhaps? If your chickens can perch on the rim, it seems that it would be easy enough to hop up, but if the space is a little smaller (or the bird a little bigger, lol) perhaps a step or a ramp would be best? Any thoughts?

 

[4 the Birds]

thinking about it more it might depend some on the size of the door perhaps? If your chickens can perch on the rim, it seems that it would be easy enough to hop up, but if the space is a little smaller (or the bird a little bigger, lol) perhaps a step or a ramp would be best? Any thoughts?

Ramps are nice to have. My nesting boxes are up at 18" and they hop up in those all the time. A little pop door entry shelter is nice to have to help block rain and wind.

This pop door door is up about 10" off the ground. The coop floor is up 4" from the ground and another 2 or 3" up with the bedding (they step up a few inches inside and then down the ramp)

 

[debid]

It would be just one more thing to be pooped on... I wouldn't bother.

 

[Ridgerunner]

In your situation with that low pop door my concern would be the bedding going out the pop door much more than worrying about a ramp up to it.

With it 6” off the ground they won’t even hop up. They will just step up.

If you have very young chicks (and I mean very young like a week or so) or of you have silkies that can’t fly a ramp may be useful if you are talking about a higher step, but for most chickens in most situations they are not really necessary unless you are going up fairly high. An intermediate step works well too. Even a two week old regular chick will have no trouble flying up a couple of feet if they are motivated.

 

[BlueMouse]

Since I haven't cut a hole in the wall of the shed yet to install said pop door, I'm going to raise it up a few inches from the inside to keep the bedding in more or less as per suggestions here. It'll still be a low door though, cause at the back of the shed the floor is almost level with the ground, and that's where the door is going to be. I think I like the rock or brick idea. I've got lots of rocks around!

4 the birds, I can tell that your goats appreciate the pop door entry shelter especially! (don't you just love goats??)