It was a good weekend - Friday night, I took the ramp down, and purchased some rubberized anti-slip paint (the stuff they use on tool handles) from Home Depot. I sanded and re-painted the ramp and it is now sitting on a second cinder block.
The angle is not as steep and the girls were much more curious Saturday morning when I introduced it back and removed the brooder from the run. They walked up and down a few times and peeked their heads through the coop door.
After spending 4 evening "herding baby chicks", which sounds a lot easier than it really is, I am happy to say they now go up themselves at dusk and enter the coop for the night. But, they were locked into their coop each night so they could get used to it, and know that was "their safe place" to sleep.
I know, instincts... but they are only 6 weeks old, and I really wanted to start them off with good habits.
A few observations: They ALL huddled at the top of the ramp on Saturday evening - they were very reluctant to enter the coop. I coaxed them (ok, I pushed them in) and after a little bit of time, they settled down inside. I have a web-cam inside the coop and noticed that ALL 12 were huddled right under the coop door. Sunday morning, they were happy to move around, and actually started to perch on some of the lower bars. When I opened the coop door Sunday morning, they were very happy to exit and play in the run.
During the week, I made up some treats (which I am still using very minimally). It was a bag of happy hens dried mealworms, and some dried corn and some oats. I realize that the pieces are probably too big for the 6-week olds, so I ground the corn and oats up into smaller pieces. Now, after only three days of greeting them and saying "hi girls, want some treats?".. they all come running. Yeah, little dinosaurs, go figure.
Anyway, Sunday, I put some treats inside the coop during the day. Two of the girls actually discovered these, happily jumped through the coop door and gobbled them up. Shortly before dark, I added some more treats to the coop, and gave the girls another treat.
Dusk came (as it does each day) and all but 1 of the girls hopped right into the coop by themselves. No coaxing needed. Snowball was the last one to enter, but she finally went in .. it was almost pitch black outside. so I shut the door and there was minimal fussing.
Interestingly, when I checked the coop-cam, the girls were all huddled by the door again, but this morning, they were playing about as usual. I opened the door, and all came parading out.
My goal is still to leave the coop door open at night, but for now, I'll keep closing it. Im sure it is not an issue if they don't actually sleep in the coop - the run is safe, but I do want them to get into that habit.
Also, take note, there is water and food in the coop. When the girls wake in the am, they go right for the water. The water is secure and can't spill, so the bedding will stay dry.
I want to thank everyone for their great advise so far. Although my kids are not new to this (and they are training me), I am new to the homesteading side of it.
