Bottom hatch or normal chicken door?

[aart]

The first coop I built had a trap door.

So do you recommend one, or not?

 

[nuthatched]

Some things to consider:
- It eats up floor space, so you will need to plan for extra floor space to make up for the space you're losing to the opening itself (and depending on the location of it, it can impact where you put roosts and nests as well)
- Bedding can fall out, so you need to take that into account. Might need some sort of elevated bumper around the opening to prevent fall out.

If easier cleaning is a priority, then make the coop big enough to easily stand and maneuver in (longer/wider than the length of your tools, so no bumping into walls) and simply get in and push litter out. I can even fit my yard cart under the human door even though the coop isn't really elevated, but as I reuse the litter in the run there's really no need for me to do it that way.

I've never tried one. I think it would take up a lot of space and that the bedding would spill out.

A bottom-opening cleanout hatch to drop bedding into the garden cart might be cool.

Would that be the only chicken access into the coop? Aside from the issues already mentioned, I wouldn't do it for another reason - it would be difficult/annoying for me to access, and there are times when I need to be able to push a chicken through the pop door - like when training young ones how to go in. With a bottom door I'd need to crawl under the coop to do that.

Interesting idea.
- You would loose floor space but given chickens are mainly in the coop to roost not sure that is a huge loss.
- I assume litter loss could be minimized with a good by using a barrier around the opening.
- Might improve natural ventilation cool air in the bottom and heat rising to elevated vents.
- wondering what a door would look like if you wanted to close it off for cleaning or other purposes. Our pop door is on the side of the coop and is always open to the run. Except on the rare occasion like for cleaning.
- even in a heavy sideways rain it should stay dry.
- depending on height and location would need to consider the distance chicken could fall/jump from roost. Currently when my chickens jump down from roost they are cushioned by 4-6in of deep litter.
- probaly would not want ramp/opening under roost as it is going to get covered in manure.
- of course you would still need a people access door in the hen house for cleaning etc.

I like the concept but I think my raised hen house (4ftx4ft) is too small for all the considerations above.

No rope ladder?

I was considering a dumb waiter. :]

Thank you all for your help, you brought up a few issues that I hadn't thought of and thanks to your advice, I think I just build a normal pop door (maybe a covered porch) but I'm considering adding a floor hatch for cleaning. There is a full sized people door but thats kept shut when im not there. My coop is on a hill so it's considerably farther off the ground in the front than in the back.

 

[suburbanfarmermi]

I was considering a dumb waiter. :]

Thank you all for your help, you brought up a few issues that I hadn't thought of and thanks to your advice, I think I just build a normal pop door (maybe a covered porch) but I'm considering adding a floor hatch for cleaning. There is a full sized people door but thats kept shut when im not there. My coop is on a hill so it's considerably farther off the ground in the front than in the back.

If your main goal was easy to clean out I think you could accomplish that with a side door like mine. I designed my coop with a side door for easy clean out. THere is a board that keeps the litter in but removing 3 screws will allow me remove the board and rake the contents of the coop into a wheel barrow. The plan is to clean the coop in the fall and spring. Put the used litter in the compost pile then on the garden when it is ready. At least that is the plan...

 

[GC-Raptor]

So do you recommend one, or not?

It has it's pluses and minuses.
For raising chicks it was great.
I finished coop when my first Flock 5 Golden Comets were 5 weeks old.
I put wheels on the coop and moved every couple of days to fresh grass inside a 500 square foot pen.
When my chicks were big enough to not squeeze through 2"x 4" welded wire fence I stopped moving and put in a permanent spot.
I put straw under coop and changed every two weeks using a narrow long handled leaf rake through basement pop door. Yeah requires squatting down.
In winter storms it offered protection with removable wooden framed plastic.

Each panel was held on with two screws for easy install and removal seasonally.
So for raising chicks it's great.
If you build it bigger than I did it could be a good choice. GC