Chicken Coop Door

[Pinknellie]

I'm building a coop and have never kept chickens before. Am at the door (the chicken's door) stage and want to know if there is anything I should bear in mind. Also, how big is too small in terms of their door?

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

Mine is the size of a milk crate and it is probably bigger than they need. Does that help at all? If you are in a cold climate you may want to think now about if the wind will blow dirrectly in or not. About a month ago I saw where someone had covered the ramp to the outside. Wish I'd done that...now it's on the to do list for next spring.

 

[dirtdoctor]

Nellie,

Welcome to the byc.

As for size of your coop door, I have experimented, first coop door was way too small 6'' x 8'' they would come in but i had alot of nicks and cuts on the combs, then i went to a much larger size door, 1 1/2 foot by 1 foot. Well it let alot of extra wind in during the cold months, So i set a door 9" x 10 inches. it is a swinging door (hinge on the top) it swings into the coop so i can tie it up during the day and at night drop it down to keep preditors out. Our flock loves it.. not one cut and they like the security at night

Best to you
Jack

 

[chickeepoo]

Welcome Pinknellie, I'm relatively new at the chicken/coop experience too, and we just finished our new run and coop for 4 large breed hens (Rhode Island Reds). After measuring them, we made their door 15" high by 12" wide, probably a little bigger than they need, but very comfortable for them as they can hop back up in the house any time without any head-bonking or scraping past the frame. We'll put a hinged door on this opening soon to shut at night… they have a temporary flap like a cat door right now that I keep up during the day and put down at night when the weather is cooler. We're in Florida, so we're not dealing with snow and freezing temps (at least not yet), so I don't know if that helps you.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

My coop door is 9x12. My fat black sexies and RIR's have no trouble gettting in or out. Neither do my guineas.


Also my door is about 2 ft off the ground. I did so hoping it would stop dogs from getting in there so easily

 

[ghillie]

You might want to pay attention to the prevailling wind direction. When I built mine we had to have the door on the North side. The wind, rain & snow blew right into the henhouse. I ended up building an extension onto the door to block the wind......

 

[Pinknellie]

Much appreciated everyone. I was going the smaller route (thought it would give the chickens a sense of security), but concerned about those nicks and cuts.
I live in Cape Town, South Africa, so mild, yet wet winters. Strong winds in summer so I'll bear their SW direction in mind.
Like the hinge idea.
Thanks again.

 

[aiwetir]

i made my 4 and my friend's 5 standard sized hens walk through an 8x10 inch frame (yeah that's another story) when i was trying to figure this one out. plenty of room but i wouldn't go much smaller. roo may have a harder time depending how big they are. ended up doing something like 11x13 inches or so, just because i had a piece of wood that size lying around.