Coop Design - Kitty Door

[Ractay]

Hi There!

In the middle of designing my chicken coop and I came across a picture of a chicken coop that had a cat door for the chickens to get in and out of.

Our winters can be very cold, and I was wondering if this could be an efficient way to keep the warmth in? Or just an expensive unnecessary idea?

 

[mboreham1]

sounds like a great idea, obviously wont be energy star rated but i think would help stop terrible cold. It would be interesting to see the chickens learn to use that!

 

[ladyride]

I use a doggie door they learned very fast no problem loved the part of locking slide in door to keep out unwanted critters.

 

[Ractay]

That was going to be my second question... how would I get them used to it? This brilliant idea is starting to sound rather tricky

 

[AZBootsie]

I think it is a great idea if your run is predator proof. Otherwise, I would worry.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I'd be very curious to see if you could teach them to use it. Chickens, from my experience, are not very intelligent creatures. I let mine out to free range for an hour or two almost every day and yet when I open the man-sized door to their run (which is up against the coop at the left side of a 9'X6' run) half the time there are one or two chickens over in the right side of the run who will shuttle back and forth across the end of the run trying to figure out how to get out their flock-mates and can't seem to figure out that they have to go AWAY from their flock mates to go out the door. You'd think I made a daily game of "move and hide the door" just to confuse them!

 

[Ractay]

Quote:
I bet that's what they're thinking every time they're left down the wrong end "darn this impossible human moving the door every day"

I'm going to guess that i would either have to keep the door open and then close it at night, or tie it half open so they have to push on it to squeeze out of the gap and then slowly lower the door a little bit each day until its a habit for them to push against it?