Chicken Door Height?

[dad40013]

Our first 4 chicks are almost 6 weeks old and the coop is almost finished.
I haven't made the chicken door yet... does anyone have a suggestion on how high to make the door off the ground?
If it is higher up is it safer for our chickens?
At what height should I include a ramp?
We live in KY so it is not super hot in the summer and not super cold in the winter.
From what I've read 10-12" X 10-12" seems to be about the right size.

Thank you in advance for your help with these beginner questions.

 

[newchicksnducks]

Try to make your chicken door at least 6-8 inches higher than your coop floor. This will help hold in the shavings when the chickens exit the coop. A ramp would be needed for anything higher than 12 inches, in my opinion. I have our coop elevated about 1 foot off the ground, and we use a ramp for our birds. It'll come in handy when you're teaching your young birds to enter the coop at night.

 

[kybeagle]

Quote:
Most of your chicken pop doors are cut 9 inches wide and 12 inches tall. Even though our winters aren't real cold you really don't want any bigger hole than you have to have.

 

[teach1rusl]

I think a 10 x 12 sounds good for standard size chickens. From INSIDE, I would build it about 6 inches up from the floor, so that bedding doesn't get kicked out. If you're using deep litter method, more than that. I agree with the poster who mentioned that, from the outside, if the pop door ends up being more than a foot off the ground, I'd include a ramp.

 

[dad40013]

Thank You for the advice. We have a concrete floor just above grade, so I'll probably put the "pop" door in about 9 inches up from the concrete.
This web-site is great! I'd be lost without it.
Thank You again!