I actually made these a few months ago...but just remembered I'd not shared!
These are the little ramps that the chickens use to enter/exit the coop. They were tracking in dirt & tracking out shavings. Plus, the cochins were getting their foot feathers really nasty in the runs. I first put in 5,600 pounds of sand into the runs...just the thought is making my back & wrist hurt again! LOL
The next step was making the ramps. We just used scraps (and we had LOTS of scraps) laying around.
I went to WAL-MART and bought two astro-turf boot-scraping mats.
I then gathered all of the supplies...cordless drill, screws, tape measure, perm. marker, gloves & box cutter knife.
I used the measuring tape to measure the size I needed to cut out of the mat. I then used the perm. marker to draw a line where I needed to cut. I cut out the shape, using the box cutters & heavy gloves. I then screwed the mat pieces into place on to the ramp.
Here is a completed ramp:
The chickens don't seem to mind at all...and now that there is sand in their runs, the mud stays out even more and the shavings in. Another benefit I've been seeing (and hadn't planned for) is that it also helps scrape some of the snow off their feet before they enter the coop--keeping my shavings drier and the humidity down in there.
Here is a photo of the ramp in my Sumatra pen...you can see all of the shavings that were trapped in the mat:
And so far, I've hosed them off twice and then just put them back up!
These are the little ramps that the chickens use to enter/exit the coop. They were tracking in dirt & tracking out shavings. Plus, the cochins were getting their foot feathers really nasty in the runs. I first put in 5,600 pounds of sand into the runs...just the thought is making my back & wrist hurt again! LOL
The next step was making the ramps. We just used scraps (and we had LOTS of scraps) laying around.
I went to WAL-MART and bought two astro-turf boot-scraping mats.
I then gathered all of the supplies...cordless drill, screws, tape measure, perm. marker, gloves & box cutter knife.
I used the measuring tape to measure the size I needed to cut out of the mat. I then used the perm. marker to draw a line where I needed to cut. I cut out the shape, using the box cutters & heavy gloves. I then screwed the mat pieces into place on to the ramp.
Here is a completed ramp:
The chickens don't seem to mind at all...and now that there is sand in their runs, the mud stays out even more and the shavings in. Another benefit I've been seeing (and hadn't planned for) is that it also helps scrape some of the snow off their feet before they enter the coop--keeping my shavings drier and the humidity down in there.
Here is a photo of the ramp in my Sumatra pen...you can see all of the shavings that were trapped in the mat:
And so far, I've hosed them off twice and then just put them back up!
