The first time to build a chicken coop.

[okay chicken rookie]

I am almost finished building my first chicken coop. It is not very big, just big enough to hold two or maybe three chickens. I live in city limits and are not supposed to have chickens. I have had some in the past and the city has not given me any problems. My neighbors love to hear the roo crow. All I lack is painting the coop, putting the legs on it and building the runway for them to walk on to get in and out of the coop. I build lots of things with wood and most of the time i don't use plans. I can vision the project in my head as i build it. I do have one question, how do you train your chickens to use the run the runway?

 

[gryeyes]

As long as the ramp is not too steep, some chickens will use ramps. Others just hop up into the doorway, if it's not too far off the ground.

There needs to be the "steps" or cross bars for them to grab with their feet, otherwise they tend to slide down the ramp, and if they are not confident about it, they won't use it. (Saw that with my ramp - need a few more of those crossbars for the chickens to come down - they do okay going up the ramp.)

If you keep them locked up in the coop for a few days, they learn that's where there sleep, that's where they are safe, and they usually go right back into the coop by themselves at night.

 

[okay chicken rookie]

Thanks for the info.