Coop door to run

If your run is super secure, you can get away with leaving it open all night. Our run has 2" x 4" wire and I think some small critters can get through that so we close ours. Usually dh opens it in the morning whenever he can. He farms so sometimes it's still dark out and sometimes it's getting light and they're waiting to get out the door. We usually close it right after they go in but sometimes we go somewhere while it's still light out and get home way past dark, like 10 pm, and close it then. So far so good. We have ours set up so that we can close it without going into the coop or the pen. Next summer we'll be using an auto door opener while on vacation and I'm really nervous about it.

 

I would say the "pop" door has two purposes. One is keep predators out, if necessary. My run is secure enough that I leave mine open. Two is to keep the bad weather out. We have severe winter in my area. In very windy, wintry nights, I would close the door.

Actually, we would close the door sometimes when we are cleaning the coop or run and the chickens are getting in the way.

It would be wise to design the pop door so it can be operated conveniently.

 

I don't close my doors but I also don't have really much for predators that could get in. If you have a lot of predators it's not a bad idea to close it.

 

My entire run is covered with a solid roof to keep out rain plus the walls are all hardware cloth. I think it would be very difficult for any predators to get in there so during the summers and nice weather I just leave the pop door open all of the time. For winter, even though we are in Florida, it can get cold at night so I like to close the pop door at night so I have an automatic door that opens right at daylight and closes about one hour after dark. This has worked for me but you must be sure that your run is predator proof.

 

In my chickens coop, the door into the run is open 24/7 during the summer because it gets so hot. We close it at night during the winter to keep the chill out, opening again in the early am. The run itself is totally enclosed in welded wire sitting on top of cement, so I'm not to worried about predators. I do keep the window in the coop open only so much because the screen seems easy to rip open and gain access.

 

I'm all for closing it at night. When chickens go to roost they become helpless. If a rat, mink, or other small predator were to get to them and chew on them they wouldn't move. I don't like that there could be even mice running around the coop at night. My run is extremely secure. It's got 9 gauge chain link with 1/2 " hardware cloth over it. I still prefer closing the coop up at night. I did end up getting an automatic door. I got tired of running down to open up the coop at the crack of dawn.

 

I'd like to see the pulley systems people use to open the door from the out side. I put on on my pop door and it opens it fine. The problem is when I let it down it doesn't close all the way.

this is my pop door before I added a pulley

 

I have an interior door that I couldn't put a proper latch on. My husband had a great idea, he ordered some magnets. It slams shut now. I have to be careful that I don't catch a chicken in it. Of course, you could use fewer magnets. Here's a link: http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=173

I've since put them on the outside baffles so they close and stay closed during high winds.