Newly built coop for chickens

[Scrabbleof4]

Hello, I recently finished building a coop for my 4, 9wk old chickens just in time to shelter them from a storm front that just rolled into town.
While observing them in their new habitat, I noticed they won't use the ladder I built for them to get up into the upper section of the coop. I placed one on the top section so she was forced to take the ladder down and she looked really uncomfortable.
Is there a chance it was built wrong? There's about 6in between steps like I was directed on another chicken site.
Any comments?

 

[junebuggena]

Ramps can be scary, especially when they aren't used to them. Maybe the rungs are too narrow, maybe they are too far apart, maybe it's too steep an angle.
Pictures might help assess if there is a problem with the setup, or if it's just something that needs a bit of time.

 

[Scrabbleof4]

Thanks, I'll post a pic or 2 tomorrow morning.

 

[Scrabbleof4]

 

[Scrabbleof4]

 

[Scrabbleof4]

Ramps can be scary, especially when they aren't used to them. Maybe the rungs are too narrow, maybe they are too far apart, maybe it's too steep an angle.
Pictures might help assess if there is a problem with the setup, or if it's just something that needs a bit of time.

I posted a couple of pictures. One of the chickens were at the top of the ladder tonight.

 

[JeanR]

Most chickens prefer to fly up to their roosts. Ramps take space from the floor of their pens and make it difficult for you to pick up anything behind the ramp, without crawling about! I have my roosts up high (warmest part of the coop at night) on a shelf. Below is another shelf with nest boxes. Ceiling is about 6 feet. Have a "roost board"-1x2r 3: at about 3 feet up, for birds to get off the floor and preen, during the day, and fly up to the nest shelf, and another"roost board" above that one, to fly up to the night roosts. (Mine are wood boxes on the high shelf, with 1x2s across to roost on. Night droppings collect in the box, which they cannot get into, and are emptied every month or so--easy cleaning!) See if I can find a picture?

 

[aart]

Ramp is too steep(put something under the bottom of it),
needs more cleats closer together,
......and a larger coop for 4 birds.