Heat lamps... just say NO! You don't want 'em, they don't need 'em. Waste of time and money. And a hazard in that small of a space.
I agree. They won't need heat once they are fully feathered. Not even in the winter. Not even in Utah. The do in Minneapolis because people who know SQUAT about raising chickens decided that chicken coops must be 34F or higher at all times. Wasteful and unnecessary.
Yes, they will hop roost to roost, not a problem. My girls will be 3 in June, have never lived with any other chickens and STILL squabble about who sits where at night with a lot of movement between roosts (2 parallel roosts at 4' high, 18" apart).
Regarding the ramp. Since yours are chicks, they will need one for a while. My suggestion:
- screw a 2x4 along the short end of the coop (the chicken door end) sticking out 8"
- get an 8' 2x8 and make full width cleats every 3". They don't have to be tall OR wide, 1/2" is fine. What you are doing is giving them something to hook their nails on which is why they should NOT be wide cleats nor too tall.
- run the ramp along the front of the coop, ground level (or on a paving stone so the wood isn't on the ground) at the left end of the coop and attached (removable!) on the board you put on in the first step. That way it won't be sticking out into the yard but you can take it down to open the bottom board to clean out.
Not sure how high the bottom of the chicken door is from the ground but large fowl can and will easily fly up 4' so you probably don't need the ramp when they are older. In fact I would be surprised if the adults use even half the length, they will just "shortcut" on the way up and down. I can't really figure out a way to put a porch in front of the chicken door since the flip up board is there. They aren't particularly "no you first" "no YOU first" "oh, but I insist YOU first" polite when using the door so it is nice to have a staging area. You could probably replace the ramp when they are older with a platform, stump, etc half the distance from the ground to the door.
You might need to replace the barrel bolts with ones that have a hole in the end (open when the door is latched) to stick a carabiner in to make sure no clever animals can open the doors. You will need something similar on the floor access board.
You want a BIG window in the back so you can see in from the house - chicken TV is interesting and FREE ... if you ignore the cost of the birds, their home, their feed, etc
This is optional of course
I can't even see my coop from the house - it is in the barn.
What sort of fencing do you have around the rest of the yard (outside the designated pen area) and how friendly are the neighbors? I bet "no harm no fowl" (sorry, couldn't resist) if the chickens wander an enclosed back yard and no one complains. Especially if you have the full privacy fence all around. Hens are really VERY quiet critters except when they are begging for treats. Mine get Black Oil Sunflower Seed in the morning and scratch at night and you would think they hadn't eaten in a month with the racket they put up!
And what defines "an enclosure" anyway? An 8' x 10' fenced area is an enclosure. So is a 50' x 50' or 100' x 100' fenced back yard. Some enclosures are just bigger than others. I can understand they don't want the birds wandering the neighborhood. Unfortunately city "chicken rules" are frequently made by people who have never seen a live chicken let alone raised any. Your six will leave nothing alive in the allotted space resulting in a dirt/mud patch. Much more likely you will have living vegetation if they can roam the yard. Better for the chickens, better for the yard.
