Does the coop need a door that closes to keep the Chicken's inside of their house?

[Sally8]

I agree with everyone that you need a door to keep the predator's out. During the winter months my chickens were in their coop and sleeping by 5 pm. Now it's 6:30 or 7. They instinctively know when to go in. I've driven home at 11 pm and seen my neighbors chickens still out foraging.

 

[nova022]

My coop in completely enclosed in hardware cloth top bottom and all sides, but I still sometimes close my pop door. When we had a pair of racoons and their young living in our area I closed it every night and put a lock on it. Now that they are not a problem I still close it sometimes if a strong wind is blowing from the west or if there is a hard drivng rain from that direction.

My girls put themselves to bed every evenig and it is comical to watch. The number two leads the parade up the ramp and the number one stands at the bottom and scolds the slow pokes. They all have their preferred spot on the roost and there is a lot of scuffling until everyone is in their place.

 

[jimmywalt]

i enlarged the pic and it really does look like there should be a door there already. are you sure it didnt have a door? i would call the company and ask

maybe someone there forgot to put it on when building it, or if they just sent u the parts forgot to put the part in the box

The picture I posted isn't the "actual" coop. I don't have permission to post pictures yet on this website, so I just found a picture online that's pretty close to my coop. Mine doesn't have a slider door for sure - but I could make one I think.

 

[what did I do]

There are times you want to lock your chickens in. Look at the pictures of frozen feet. Snow ans chickens don't get along all that well.

 

[jimmywalt]

Here's the door opening on my actual coop

 

[jimmywalt]

If I take the decorative white border off the top and left side of the opening I can probably fashion something that will slide across the door to keep the chickens in and the predators out. Would 1/4" plywood work ok for the door?
Thank you.

 

[jimmywalt]

Thank you for that info. I plan to get some really heavy plastic to wrap around the coop for in the winter to keep the snow out and hopefully help it be warmer from any sun we might get.

 

[what did I do]

Thank you for that info. I plan to get some really heavy plastic to wrap around the coop for in the winter to keep the snow out and hopefully help it be warmer from any sun we might get.

No need for plastic wrap. The chickens need the ventilation. It is the standing in snow that hurts them.

 

[jimmywalt]

No need for plastic wrap. The chickens need the ventilation. It is the standing in snow that hurts them.

Thank you. But based upon the small size of my coop the snow will enter from 3 sides if I don't cover it with plastic in the winter and then the chickens will be in snow. I will just cover each panel that has the hardware cloth. There will be enough cracks that fresh air will get inside rather easily.

Here is a pic of what my coop looks like (pretty close to this picture, but not exact). It's only 60" long (not including the nest box) x 30" wide x 41" tall.

 

[what did I do]

No need for plastic wrap. The chickens need the ventilation. It is the standing in snow that hurts them.

I got to thinking about it. You were talking about the run, LOL yes the run should be covered.