Whether you put your chicken coop on stilts or just have the nesting boxes raised up off of the floor, you will find your hens need a ramp. Training them to use the ramp could be a different story. The most important factor is to make sure your chicken coop ramp is safe. It has to be easy for the chickens to use without hurting themselves or falling off.

Before you start building a backyard chicken coop you need to prepare. Select the area where the pen or coop will be built, get some good, easy to follow plans and buy the materials needed. The house should be built before the chickens arrive. You might want free range chickens that can run, eat and fertilize all over the yard, but when it comes to bed time, they need a safe dry place to roost.

Wood is the preferred material. It is easy to work with, durable and attractive. The size of the coop and surrounding pen depends on how many chickens you plan to keep. The average rule of thumb is four square feet per hen. You will want to make it tall enough for you to enter easily for gathering eggs and for cleaning, but the chickens themselves don't care about the height, as long as it has a little head room.

Some coops are designed with hinged roofs or back doors. If you don't want to actually enter the pen, these are great options. You can access the coop, gather the eggs and clean the nesting boxes from behind avoiding chicken coop ramp.