Is something wrong with my coop ramps??

[patandchickens]

CHickens have poor night vision and (being nature's Original White Meat) they are understandably not keen to go into apparently-pitch-black areas.

So when you're having trouble getting them to go into an enclosed area (even in the daytime) or to go to roost on their own at night, it is always worthwhile IMHO to add additional windows. You would be surprised how early in the evening a windowless space gets dark.

That said, you are *also* likely to have to teach them to roost by manually placing them on there every night for a little while, but your job will be made much easier, and they will be more apt to use the area in daytime, if you add some sort of window panel.

YOu might also want to add a second roost, parallel to the existing one, about halfway between the existing one and the sill of the nestbox. Your existing roost doesn't have ROOM for more than about 2 chickens, espeically if there are some social frictions. (Remember they cannot use the part where the roof slopes down, very well -- even a sleeping chicken has nontrivial height

)

Good luck, have fun, I'm sure you'll get it sorted out,

Pat

 

[mcostas]

Mine has openings across from each roost! Cause it's gets hot here. I also can open both doors on the front so they don't feel trapped.

Tonight they were piled up in front of the run, we carried them in. I put them on one of the logs they like to nestle beside, but they were getting in a pile when we walked away.

I guess mine are late bloomers. Or they feel so secure in the yard they just plop down when they get the urge. It takes them a long time to actually snooze because they try to get under each other. When I first got them there was a larger one that the rest crawled under but now they are pretty much the same size. They spend a lot of time and energy wiggling in a pile before they finally get comfortable and quiet.