A catdoor in the henhouse?

[Emilys3guppies]

Hello All!

I'm getting started on my coop and was wondering about the door. I have a deck box that I will be using for the coop. It's 10sq/ft of floor and is intended for 3 banties. I like it for a few reasons:

*it's plastic and easily cleaned
*the doors and top lock
*it won't scream 'chicken coop' in my suburban backyard (lot size only 30x100 ft, so neighbours are close)

I'm just curious about the door. This website, at the bottom, shows what I'm attempting to do (mine with better vents). http://greenterrafirma.com/chicken-coop.html It looks like they use a catdoor for the chooks. Anyone have a catdoor? I have seen a bundle of them online that are 'lockable' but I'm just curious how sturdy they are and if this is a plausable idea? We are in a community close to farmland (can see cornfields from my bedroom window as far as the eye can see...) and want it to be secure from raccoons, weasels, ect.

I'm thinking it would be easiest because the deckbox is double-layer resin with air between the two layers and it would be easier to install a catdoor rather than make a wood one that locks. I can get pet door at the pet store for about $15.

Thoughts?

 

[Country Heart]

The cat door sounds like a great idea to me - just be sure that you can lock it up at night. Raccoons have no trouble figuring out cat doors.

 

[Amyable]

I wanted to use a cat or dog door too. At our city house we had a large metal door for the dog, and that thing was heavy. I hope to find a medium sized metal door that can be opened/shut with a pulley system, so it can be operated without going into the coop/run.

At the very bottom of that site was a pic of nest boxes made out of buckets. They cut the tops in half, lined the top edge, and snapped them onto the buckets. Brilliant!!! I plan to use those kinds of buckets, MIL can get them from her work by the dozen.

Thanks for the link Emily

 

[patandchickens]

I would not trust a catdoor against raccoons, lockable or not, unless it is one of the upmarket ones that has a metal sliding panel that drops into place and you cna figure out a way to lock it more securely than most mfrs allow for. The normal 'locking' cat flaps are just held by a little plastic peg (and most have crevices around the edges where a raccoon can get a grip on the door to pull, too)... they might keep raccoons out of your own house, most of the time, but with the incentive of a chicken dinner scent wafting through from right on the other side of the door, I wouldn't personally do it. You can build something much more secure yourself.

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[ginaseven]

The racoons and possums use my cat door into my tack room, like I made it for them. They can open it easily even if I lock it.