silkies won't climb ramp

[geosheets]

I've built a 2 story silkie coop/run... the run is directly below the coop. My silkies have been in there for a little over a day now. They all figured out how to get down to the run but they haven't figured out how to get back up the ramp. Their food and water is above in the coop. The ramp is a 2 x 6 and is at near a 45 degree angle. I have 1/2" thick cleats nailed on every 3 1/2 inches. I know, pics would probably help but it is still dark here. Is my ramp too steep or will they eventually figure out how to get back up the ramp?

 

[EricT]

I've had the same problem with my silkies and their 3x8 chicken tractor. It had a small door opening at the top of the ramp to the enclosed area and they haven't used it in 6 months. Last week I took my jigsaw and cut the whole front open and doubled the width of the ramp and so far I've seen 1 or 2 climb the ramp but they all still stay on the ground most all of the time. I'm hoping they get used to it and start using the wasted space as it gets colder.

 

[Shannon's Chix]

I'll be watching this thread, I have a similar set up to the OP and my standards are in there now but I'm building another coop and eventually want my silkies in there.

Now it did take my standards almost 2 days to get a hang of going UP the ramp, but obviously it may be different with silkies...?

 

[Shannon's Chix]

Still watching...

 

[teach1rusl]

Could you try sprinkling a few treats at every tread, leading up to the coop???

 

[briteday]

Our silkies are in a 2-story coop as well. I think it took about 10 days for them to go upstairs at night by themselves. Since they are my teenager's pets she crawled under and got them out one by one and put them upstairs until they got the hang of it by themselves. They would always come down in the morning when we lowered the ramp. But I guess it takes a while for them to understand that the ramp works going both ways!

 

[lilchik]

I have the same problem with my Silkies. I built a raised coop so they would have more room outside in bad weather. I think they are afraid to come down the ramp because they can't fly. They will go up the ramp. If I leave the "human" door open they will come down the steps. I even double the width of the ramp, thinking they would feel more secure, but no luck.

 

[geosheets]

well, they still won't climb the ramp... they all came down it in the first 8 hours or so although, I'm envisioning that they probably tumbled down it on accident. I tried sprinkling some grains on the ramp but they ate what they could reach from the ground and left the rest. I guess I'm going to have to do something before the ding dongs starve themselves since their food and water is in the top. I think I'm going to build a shelf at half the height and then add 2 ramps that are only half as steep as my original.

 

[Happy Chicken Mama]

 

[geosheets]

Quote:
Well, I put a shelf across the bottom so I could put in two ramps at half the angle. I then covered the ramps with hardware cloth for traction instead of the wooden cleats. I did this 2 weeks ago and put the silkies back up with their food/water. Finally, today (2 weeks later), they decided to venture down below again. This time they can get back up and frequently do go up and down. Not sure if it was the angle of the ramp, the hardware cloth, or just time... but, they finally are using their new ramps.