Coop Door on the Floor?

[peep-a-boo]

Hey all! I'm designing my 1st coop and was wondering about having an opening on the coop's floor rather than having it on a wall. The coop would be 4X4 and raised about 3'. Anyone else do this and what are your thoughts?

 

[Moabite]

I did this and it works great. The biggest problem being all the pine shavings that continually fall out. I put a 2X4 frame around the top of the opening, and that allows the design to work, but the chickens still knock a lot of shavings out. I also attached the chicken latter to the door and the whole thing is mounted on a door hinge so I can raise it and lock it up or raise it to rake the run. It also makes it difficult if you decide to add an automatic door.
My coop is also 3ft up. The latter is at 45 degrees.

 

[hallerlake]

My tractor has a door on the floor. It's not a problem.

 

[peep-a-boo]

Thanks for your help! I think this will be the solution for me. I didn't want to spend the money on an automatic door and I KNOW that I'm not gonna be outside 1st thing in the A.M to open it and then remember to close it at P.M.

BTW, how wide/big do you make the opening?

 

[gryeyes]

A little longer than you would normally make a pop door tall. Remember that the chicken's whole body is rising as it walks up the ramp ladder, instead of stepping through a vertical doorway. And about as wide as a regular pop door. I'd guess at least 10 inches wide and 18 inches long.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
If you're going to leave the chicken door open at night and accept the risk that predators might break into your run and enter the coop through this door (and kill all your chickens), I don't think it makes any difference whether the chicken door is in the floor or in the wall. A hungry predator is going to find the door in the floor just as easily as it will find the door in the side of the coop.

As others have noted, one problem with a chicken door in the floor is the shavings falling out. Another problem noted is that you need to cut it a bit larger than if you were mounting the door in the wall because of the angle the chicken needs to use to get in and out using the ramp. You have to build a ramp, which is something you don't usually have to do with a side mounted door. And it's a bit trickier to build a way to close and lock a door in the floor, too. The final drawback I can see is that it uses up floor space, something that's quite valuable in a small coop where every square foot counts.

Sometimes you have no choice, as in when the run is completely under the coop. Personally, though, if I had the option I'd go for the side mounted door.

 

[patandchickens]

I absolutely wouldn't. What elmo said. Loss of a lot of bedding, and loss of a lot of usable floorspace, neithr of which are really curable and both of which are significant problems.

The only reason to even consider it would be if you are in a teeny tiny footprint area and want a totally double-decker structure, such that the coop is atop ALL the prospective run area and therefore there is no way to do a popdoor in the wall without sacrificing coop (indoor) area.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[paddock36]

I did it with my little coop that will be for Seramas. I have not put a frame around the opening yet but that is in the plans.
Front view with ramp:

Inside (not very fancy):