how steep can the ramp up to the coop be?

[Farmer Mitch]

I made mine a little steeper than intended but I think they will still make their way up there.

45 deg? 40 deg? 30 deg?

Just measured it, it's 38 deg. and has a 1" strip of 3/8ths plywood screwed down every 6 inches.

Thanks.

 

[ghillie]

Should be fine and

 

[backyardmenagerie]

As long as you have a hole in the side of the coop, it's all good. Mine never use the ramp.

 

[Farmer Mitch]

Thanks. And thanks for the welcome.

There is no side hole, just a hole in the floor for them to get up into the upper deck. This coop is designed to be portable, moveable with two people. Somewhat of an A frame design. Open to the ground on bottom. I'll take a pic tomorrow and maybe some suggestions on things I've overlooked. This is a first for me and I've already made mistakes that I've adjusted for.

Only have 4 hens that are about ready to start laying. Plan on 3 laying boxes on one end and the exit/entrance on the opposite side. With a pretty generous free area compared to some that I"ve seen but it's no mansion like some of you have made.


Cost vs reward being considered every step of the way. They will be fertilizing future gardening areas as well as producing eggs.

Right now they have a large run and use a portable dog transport for shelter. It's a priority to get this finished and them in it.

We have a lot of predators in my area, Mountain lion, Bobcat, Coyotes, Owls, Hawks, Gopher snakes, Rattlers, ( Green Mojave and Southern Pacific) etc. so they can not be allowed to roam the back yard or they will not be around long. Also have California King snakes, don't know if they will predate the eggs?


Anyways. Thanks for the welcome and thanks for your help.

 

[Roadstump]

I have an exterior ramp at about 30 degrees and interior at 40 and they use them both. It appears that the important factor is how well they can grip the ramp as they go up or down. One thing for sure, you don't need to take the angled ramp all the way to the ground. I stopped both ramps at about 6" off the ground and fastened a vertical board to prop it off the ground. It saves space and they rarely walk all the way down and even if they do it's a short hop to get up or down.

 

[Farmer Mitch]

Thanks stump:

That is exactly what I will do.

 

[Farmer Mitch]

Here's what I got. First off, the lower part is not enough to keep my playful dog out. She wants them to play with her and has messed up the lower screens. I need to board that off for the first 12" or so.

You can see the hinges for the nest box end and the door running the length for clean out.

At first I put them in the top part and they did not want to go down the ramp, so, I helped them down. Now they won't go up it, they never did, yet. But I suspect they will get board and go up there soon enough?

 

[Farmer Mitch]

 

[oak_abode]

I totally just winged ours with scrap we had laying around. It's pretty steep, but our girls use it just fine, and having a shorter ramp saved space. I actually wrote a whole blog post about the design & how it's worked out, which you can view by clicking here!

 

[aart]

I totally just winged ours with scrap we had laying around. It's pretty steep, but our girls use it just fine, and having a shorter ramp saved space. I actually wrote a whole blog post about the design & how it's worked out, which you can view by clicking here!

Not safe for feet:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ramp-too-steep.545752/page-2#post-20341706
It's not saving space either, putting low end of ramp up on a 16 high concrete block would actually make more space under ramp available.