Pop door on inside or outside of the coop?

Tiana Rose

In the Brooder
Feb 17, 2016
43
1
34
Spokane, WA
So I will be making the hole for the pop door soon and I am wondering about the placement. It will be a guillotine style door. However, is there a benefit to having it one way or the other? I am trying to decide if I will have the track on the inside of the coop or the outside. It seems to me having it on the outside would be better as it is less likely to get clogged with shavings. It will go past the door and into a track so it will be predator proof and the pop door will lead out to a covered run which will also help deter unwanted guest. If you have opinions or experience on what worked (or didn't) I would love it if you would share. One day I would love to hook it up so it will be an automatic door if that maters. Thank you.
 
I just did mine, and it's on the inside. I have an auto-pop door, but it can easily be rigged the same way for manual operation. One thing i liked about doing it internally is that i was able to have to door stop about a half inch or so below grade, so nothing could get a claw under the door and just lift it up.

Basically i have a hole in a wall on the side, with the string coming through and over a pulley (of sorts).


 
I would say inside is best, to protect it from the weather......also a good idea to put an awning or such over the door.

Putting the bottom of pop door up about 8" above coop floor will help keep bedding out of track,
it'll still get stuff in there once in awhile and you'll need to clear it out.
 
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Mine is on the outside and haven't had any problems. Bent a piece of metal and attached as an awning over the controls. I let it run below the bottom of the cut hole, and added a piece of trim molding for the bottom to land on. Its a Brinsea auto door.
 
I think a lot of it has to do with what your set-up looks like plus a bit on how you manage them. I have two different ones, neither of them manual. What’s your routine when you lock them up, if you go manual instead of automatic? I assume you will have a manual option? Maybe not.

The one on the main coop is on the outside. It’s hinged at the top. I use a hasp and S-Biner to lock it open or closed. The bottom of the opening is close to a foot above the bedding so the bedding doesn’t get kicked out. When I have small chicks I make a set of steps with pavers to help them get in and out. I sometimes “herd” the chickens into the coop during the day for various reasons. It’s very convenient to be able to close that pop door from the outside once I get them all in.

I have a horrible set-up on my grow-out coop. The grow-out coop is elevated and set back from the main run about two feet. I built an elevated tunnel out of hardware cloth and plywood to give them access. I used a guillotine type door next to the coop. When I need to put the chicks in that coop from the run and lock them up, I put them in then have to walk all the way around through the coop and around my electric netting to close the pop door. I made something out of wood to block off that tunnel while I’m walking around.

Give a little thought on when you might be using that pop door other than just when you are locking them up at night and how you would approach it. Try to make it convenient for you. Lots of people only use them to lock the chickens up at night. We are all unique so we can get different answers to this.
 
So I will be making the hole for the pop door soon and I am wondering about the placement. It will be a guillotine style door. ? I am trying to decide if I will have the track on the inside of the coop. I put my 9x12" pop door in the inside it is harder to Is open for any predator in my estimation especially with a sill over the threshold to keep predators from the bottom of the door. It seems to me having it on the outside would be better as it is less likely to get clogged with shavings. The solution is to have your pop door 8 to 12" up fom the floor is my suggestion. My door is open and closed with a piece of nylon whipper snipper line with just a hole drilled into the top of the man door..

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