Goose coop ramp incline degree? :

[PromiselandFM]

I was wondering if y'all have had luck getting your geese to go up a ramp? We are building a goose wagon and it'll be 20'' high... I'm thinking we'll need a really long ramp?

 

[wildpeas]

My geese absolutely refuse to go up a ramp but they will happily use stairs.

 

[Going Bhonkers]

Mine do ramps, but prefer steps. Not only do you want the ramp to be long, you also want to make it wide. We recently replaced their old ramp with a much wider one (they used to fall off the sides coming down) and it works much better. The ramp also has ridges or bumps on it, otherwise they'll slide

 

[Going Bhonkers]

Oh, and we were able to teach them to go up the ramp by putting a food bowl at the top. Once 1 gets it, the others will follow.

 

[DawnB]

I got mine to do a ramp (finally). My coop is about the same height as yours will be. My ramp is between 5-6 ft long. I had some long scrap 2x6s laying around. I put 3 together edge-to-edge and screwed them together with short pieces of 2x4. I made it specifically wide enough for big feet and wide butts!

I used pieces of 3/4" quarter-round trip as the cleats about 6-8" apart. My gander flatly refused to use the ramp, but when I got him a girlfriend (who knew how to use a ramp) and wouldn't put food out in the run anymore (once it started to snow really bad), he sorta got the hint.

It took a few days of going out and plucking him up and shoving him through the pop door, but he finally got the message (and found out it was warmer out of 50mph winds). His first few attempts on his own were (*ahem*) less than graceful, but he finally got it. Now he uses the ramp without hesitation.

Here's a pic of my coop/ramp (without the snow! haha). The run was an existing dog pen, and since we built the coop outside the pen, there's a "chute" and a "porch" out of the coop (wrapped in wire fencing) that goes into the run.

 

[PromiselandFM]

Thanks everyone for the great tips! It'll help!