My chickens can't seem to walk up the ramp to their coop!

[BeeBee1]

Hi Everyone, I recently rescued three Cornish chickens from the Kaporos ceremony that's held in Brooklyn every year. (Kaporos is a Hasidic observance where a chicken is waved around somebody's head, and then the chicken's throat is cut. It is believed that the person's sins will die along with the chicken. Yep, crazy stuff like this still goes on. About 10,000 chickens per year die in Brooklyn over this nonsense.)

Anyway, these chickens were bred to be eaten, and they've been genetically modified to gain weight quickly and grow larger than nature ever intended, particularly in the chest area. As a result, they often have mobility problems. I've had my little flock for a week now. They seem to have no problem leaving the coop in the morning on their own. But they have never walked back up the ramp to get back into the coop--even after nightfall. So I've been carrying them back up.

Is this normal? I thought chickens would seek cover on their own when it started getting dark, but these guys have never done that.

I might add that the coop I bought for them has a pretty steep ramp, so maybe that's the issue.

Thanks for any advice you can give me

 

[RojoMarz]

It does look like a steep ramp. Are there some type of cross pieces, on the ramp, so they don't slide down? You also mention mobility issues. That probably plays a part in this. Also, knowing their 'history', they may not have ever had shelter before. You may need to teach them.

 

[RojoMarz]

Is there some way you can put a landing mid way up, turn the ramp and lower the angle of them? It would take more space, but may be helpful for them...

 

[SegiDream]

that's a pretty steep ramp. Our coop is about 12" off the ground, I had to sink a cinder block into the ground so it's about a 6" step for our meat bird hen to get in and out of the coop without issues. I'm not sure what a work around would be for you other than changing the grade of that ramp, maybe turning it in the other direction and adjusting the length so it isn't as steep of a climb...

Also exercise! Do everything you can to get them exercising. I separate the food and water so our Big Girl has to actually migrate back and forth, and they get lots of free range time to explore...

 

[neo71665]

Pretty sure that ramp is too steep for a meat bird to easily get up.

That said my hens hardly ever use their ramp to walk up or down. Once their feathers came in they just flew up.

 

[K0k0shka]

Agree with everybody that it's a very steep ramp. Also, it seems to end right into the fence in front, with no room for a chicken to walk up from the end of the ramp. They'd have to hop/fly partway up, which they may be too timid to do if they've never seen a ramp before, or never had much exercise before and lack the strength or coordination to maneuver in tricky spaces.

You can replace the ramp with steps leading up, made out of cinder blocks. One block for the first step, two stacked on top of each other for the second step, and so on until the top. Steps will be easier for them to walk up than this ramp. You'll lose the space currently underneath the ramp - that looks like a tiny coop+run combo already - but at least it will help the birds get up to the coop.

 

[SegiDream]

Oh and our meat bird hen got habituated to picking her up too. So when you fix the ramp issue you'll probably have to break them of that habit.

After it is fixed maybe give some treats to encourage them to go in on their own. I wouldn't use treats more than a couple nights in a row because then they'll be hanging around outside just to get treats. What finally worked for me was adding the step and then hiding out of sight while supervising to make sure she got in... She gets in 100% on her own now no fanfare needed.