Chicken Run human door

[NicholeT]

Securing the run underground to prevent digging predators (a fox got into my BIL's run and killed a few of his girls) is already in the plans but how are your people doors not a weak point for critters and predators alike?

 

[samanthaoverton]

If you have a wood floor it isn't a weak point. I have one entrance for my gals, a human door. I leave it open during the day and everyone is locked up at night.

 

[nuthatched]

There's usually a threshold you can attach an Apron to that. Where's the door of the coop?

 

[aart]

I had to build a 'patio' into a slope for door swing,
then had to extend it into the run so the chickens would not dig under it.

 

[MarlaMac]

Securing the run underground to prevent digging predators (a fox got into my BIL's run and killed a few of his girls) is already in the plans but how are your people doors not a weak point for critters and predators alike?

We put rocks in the ground directly under the gate to our run. This keeps any critters from digging under the gate. Before we did this, a raccoon was able to dig under the gate and although it didn't get into the run, we knew it was only a matter of time before it would be able to.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

my run door is a weak spot currently that I am on a mission to fix as soon as I get a few warm days. Luckily the coop is predator proof but I always worry about something getting under the gap in the run door in the daytime. Thanks for this thread, I am happy to see ideas that will help me too

 

[David61]

My bulldog has the yard. Most yards in the subdivision do so day time predators are hawks. Harden off to meet your needs.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

We also leave the entrance door open during the day along with windows wired outside, I built a 1/4 inch hardwire screen door that keeps snakes, mice, chip monks and wild birds out. Joist and plywood floor.

 

[Sueby]

I have 3 entrances: 1 I poured a little pad at the gate, 1 is a section of an old poured stoop & the 3rd is a few big, flat rocks. I need something that I can shovel snow off of easy enough.

 

[SamLockwood]

The door has to be rigid (mine is a frame made of 2x4's) and in an equally rigid frame. The frame of the run is 4x4 lumber on the base and the door is set so that it's flush with the frame and even if something relatively strong were to get a handhold they'd have to bend the door about 1.5" before they got any gap at all to pass through.

This is an older photo before I jacked up the whole thing and added some 12x12" pavers for it to rest on to discourage digging and aid drainage when it rains.

Here's a closer shot of the door closed: