Still won't climb the ramp!

[AmberKnits]

Water and food is in the run, not the house part. Tried that and it was a disaster. Couldn't keep the water clean and well, it was just a mess.

Our water is in the coop, a hold over from winter when we had heated water bowls in there.
We raised the waterer up on bricks or the narrow cinderblocks to keep the bedding out of the water. We use the pvc pipe feeders, they were super easy to put together.

 

[Ren2014]

I experienced the same thing with mine. I know your pain I was able to coax mine up and down the ramp with their favorite treats sprinkled here and there along the ramp. Eventually they figured it out. Yours will also, it just takes time.

 

[TalkALittle]

What's your ramp look like? Too steep of an angle will deter birds from using it, especially young birds that don't really know their way back inside anyway. Try having a little light on in the coop at the time they normally hunker down for the evening to help draw them inside.

 

[Howard E]

How high off the deck is the opening? If only a couple feet, you don't need a ramp. They can fly up. Put a landing platform outside the door opening, and perhaps an inverted bucket, rail or something else to use as a training device and they will hop up to it. When running around on the floor, they will often fly up on anything elevated, so this is more of a stair step process than a ramp.
Other than it looks traditional, I still don't get the ramp. They can easily fly up to nest boxes and roosts, yet can't make a hop of a foot or two to get inside the coop? Of course they can.

 

[At a loss]

So my coop is elevated and opens to a run area. During the day while we're home I let them roam the yard. Around dusk I heard them inside the run area. As it gets dark they just fall asleep inside in the run. They won't go back into the house portion. I have to pick each one up, place it on the ramp and coax it in. Sometimes this really sucks because I have to get on my hands and knees to get them and well, who wants to do that? Any suggestions? They never wander from the coop too far.

Put their favorite feed at the top of the ramp.

 

[jbrianchamberli]

Put a light in it last night and when it got dark, they were cuddled in the floor sleeping. I was on my hands and knees once again picking up chickens and putting them in the house. I notice they won't use their roosts either. I used 2x4's for them.

 

[jbrianchamberli]

How high off the deck is the opening? If only a couple feet, you don't need a ramp. They can fly up. Put a landing platform outside the door opening, and perhaps an inverted bucket, rail or something else to use as a training device and they will hop up to it. When running around on the floor, they will often fly up on anything elevated, so this is more of a stair step process than a ramp.
Other than it looks traditional, I still don't get the ramp. They can easily fly up to nest boxes and roosts, yet can't make a hop of a foot or two to get inside the coop? Of course they can.

I started using a ramp just because they would't fly up back into the house. They use the ramp to come down, some half way before jumping. Dummies.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

My birds aren't using the roosting bars I put in my coop yet either. I think its an age and comfort thing. That and last week here it was in the lower 50s at night so they were all in a chicken pile on the floor. Perhaps as they get older and start getting more comfortable with things they'll start roosting.

as for them going to bed on their own, we have the same problem, and I figure its a matter of time before they decide to agree with me and my son that they should sleep in the coop.

 

[Fairview01]

I turned about 20 6 week old chicks into the run. When I cut the opening with the circular saw and walked out half of them were already on the ramp before I was out of the run.

Out of curiosity I looked on them after night fall. I only had one smart one make it back into the coop. The others were a dog pile of feathers. All that is needed is one Judas goat and eventually the rest will follow.

 

[jbrianchamberli]

Guess who climbed the ramp last night and returned to the hen house on their own? 3 of the 5. So we're headed in the right direction.