Getting chicks used to ramp & coop outside

[Nay117]

1st time chick mom ... I have been integrating my 5-6 week old chicks outside. I live in CT and it has finally been in the sixties & sunny, so they stay outside in their smaller run area with coop during day and I have been bringing them into their indoor brooder at night (I worry its a little chilly at night still) but I plan on them having their first night in coop outside this weekend. I have 2 bantams and 5 average sized chickens. I keep putting them in the coop let them find their way back out down the ramp to run area. I keep putting them up on ramp. I've been putting mealworms (their favorite!) on the ramp to make them want to go up it. They love being outside! They hate the ramp! It has been a week and none have interest in ramp and coop ... am I just being impatient? They are scared of ramp. It is wood with some foot pegs going across. I notice it is slippery so I want to put something safe to have them get more traction.. suggestions? Am I "training" them correctly to use coop and ramp? I just don't want to freak them out their first night inside. Thanks for any advice!

 

[azygous]

Staple an old dish towel onto the ramp. That's what I do for tiny feet learning to use a slippery, steep ramp.

But using the ramp isn't the main issue. Learning to go into the coop at night is the absolute biggie, and it takes the longest for chicks to learn.

I brood in my run, but when it comes time to move into the coop, the chicks have the same learning curve as chicks brooded in a house. On the day my chicks are to move into the coop, I put them into the coop around three hours before dark and I close them up in it to explore and get comfortable being in there while it's still light. I often transition them with whatever they were sleeping in out in the run so they have something familiar at night.

A big help in this is to teach your chicks to come when you signal them. I use a clicker, and I teach them to come using treats when I click. This way, when I want them in the coop, I get inside and signal them, and they come inside to get a treat. This thread explains the training. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...training-my-chickens-this-past-month.1230489/

When it comes to finding their way in and out of coops and runs, chicks have no trouble figuring it out, and they're only hampered in this by their own caution and comfort level putting themselves in possible danger of predators. Yes, that includes what we may look upon as perfectly safe. But chicks are instinctively aware they are prey and exercise immense caution when it comes to exploring new territory.

Except for training them to go into the coop at night, I leave all other exploration and when to embark on it to the chicks.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Photos of your ramp? If the angle is too steep or too slippery they may not want to use it.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

1st time chick mom ... I have been integrating my 5-6 week old chicks outside. I live in CT and it has finally been in the sixties & sunny, so they stay outside in their smaller run area with coop during day and I have been bringing them into their indoor brooder at night (I worry its a little chilly at night still) but I plan on them having their first night in coop outside this weekend. I have 2 bantams and 5 average sized chickens. I keep putting them in the coop let them find their way back out down the ramp to run area. I keep putting them up on ramp. I've been putting mealworms (their favorite!) on the ramp to make them want to go up it. They love being outside! They hate the ramp! It has been a week and none have interest in ramp and coop ... am I just being impatient? They are scared of ramp. It is wood with some foot pegs going across. I notice it is slippery so I want to put something safe to have them get more traction.. suggestions? Am I "training" them correctly to use coop and ramp? I just don't want to freak them out their first night inside. Thanks for any advice!

I’m a new chick owner too.
Mine range from 2-4 weeks.
They were put in an outdoor brooder at 2 weeks and then the new ones were added at a week old.
I made a run around the entire brooder. They figured out at night to go back into the brooder however it took the youngest 3 days to figure it out and the older Pullets would keep watch on them trying themselves to coax them back into the brooder.

like I said I’m new to this too but I imagine it takes them going at night to really solidify it for them. Just from what I’ve noticed in my limited experience.

They have a heat plate inside of it to keep them warm at night when it drops to 40s.
And the ramp isn’t very high it’s probably about 6-8 inches of a incline.

 

[Yardmom]

Assuming the ramp is not to steep, the chicks can quickly learn to use a ramp. Usually I show mine one time, but they have to want to go in. Once they have been placed in the coop (maybe shut for a couple days) so they know it as home base then they will want to go back in at dusk. It does not sound like your chicks know that the coop is home.

 

[vpatt]

My chicks are with the hen in the coop with other grown chickens and some of them are roosters. They are 5 and 6 days old now so I'm going to leave the coop open and see if she takes them out today. Hopefully the other chickens will not hurt them. I have been letting the others out and then shutting mama and babies in the coop alone.