silkies won't climb ramp

[Kittenbites]

This thread is hysterical! hehe I love Silkies so much! I only have two right now but I am hoping for more.
Our two little fuzzlings are both quite daring although the roo wasn't until he figured out he was male! Up until then, he wouldn't roost with the hens and they picked on him and pushed him around.
Then he became 'the Man' and now they all heed his beck and call and he gets to boss them around. My teensy tiny little girl Silkie has always thought she was a big girl and has roosted since she was a baby as soon as she could reach. I also frequently find all the chickens up on a picnic table I have in my back yard >.< They like to sit up there for whatever reason and the Silkies are right up there with the big girls although I wish I knew how they are getting up there!
I imagine if I had had more Silkies, they might never have roosted though but with the influence of their standard sisters, they learned.

 

[BBK]

after 4 months...mine STILL don't go up the ramp. i have to put them up by hand EVERY night!!! And Mr T. has a problem with coming down it...

DH is making another coop, b/c we have 4 cochins that are going in with the 3 silkies... I've got my fingers crossed that this will work..
melinda

 

[gsim]

Too steep. From what you say yours is 1:1. I did a little over 3:1 for mine indoors, and 4:1 for the pop doors. If they are only going up 2 ft, then they should be able to jump that easily.

Mine do not even use the ones indoors except to sometimes descend on them, but that is rare. My walk boards go to the nest shelf at 24" ht. Opposite side has roosts at 24" and at 48". They jump to lowest, then to highest to get there. They all just jump/flutter to come down. They are young. Could be that when they age, I might need to do a walkboard for the top roost, down to the nest shelf maybe. Hate that tho as it would block access to my end windows, and they get opened wide and closed to a crack daily in spring and fall.

 

[allaboutdemchicks]

Great news that they are using it...Geo!!

(Mine use an extra wide ramp, not too steep nor too tall)

 

[evitachu]

Hello... I know thisnis old thread but I just started raising silkies....they are 10 weeks old and won't go upstairs to sleep! Help!??!!!

 

[shortgrass]

Lol made me chuckle to read of the silkie ramp problems... Mine wont use a ramp even if the coop was on fire!

I can say, as long as it isn't too steep, they'll practice and try it out; if they're scared of it, they will NOT use it....

I gave up and built mine a mini roist to hop up to sleep with... They get the top roost with the big girls and I have to physically lift them down every morning lol; they won't stay off the top roost even though they KNOW they can't get down.

I don't recall reading anything that said silkies were in ANY way intelligent ha-ha

Angle it less, maybe they won't be so scared if you pop the bottom end up with a brick or something to make the able less steep...

 

[Hholly]

I built my silkies a ramp and they hate it too. They prefer to hop on a wood box, then up to the lower rung on the roost, then to the top rung. I need to make them some steps, because the heavier they get, they have a harder time jumping up. It's scary to watch.

 

[evitachu]

LOLLLL I thought I was the only one with this problem! I was thinking,"Why my silkies are so dumb!?!?" Ok will try the suggested tricks and have more patience!

 

[shortgrass]

Lol I have to laugh at really how useless they are... They can't SEE, can't climb a ramp, can't get down from a roost, run like they're constantly tripping... They look like little llamas when they're trotting away. ..(use the imagination lol) horrible at getting away from danger...but wow can they zig and zag when they don't want caught!

What were the Chinese people thinking with these chickens?!?!

They're adorable lol

 

[napdognewfie]

I trimmed around the eyes a little and it made a big difference. Poor little things were probably near-sighted like me. Lol