Dutch doors are a good idea. There are gates on my yard and a 100+ lb Coon Hound in my yard who has chickens for friends. He keeps much more than strays out. He likes to wake me up at 2:00 am to see if I'll come out and shoot something out of a tree for him. I've never had enough snow in the...
i'm in Wyoming just North of you, and I've had run doors that open in and run doors that open out. After trying both ways, all future run doors I build will always be in -- here are my whys;
I can use the door to push hens gently back and slip in much easier with them with less chance of some...