Door Knobs

[mandomama]

Can a racoon open a coop door knob? Do you guys use deadbolts???

 

[jaku]

From what I've heard, a good measure is that anything a toddler can figure out, a racoon can as well.

 

[dfunnyfarm]

Yes racoons can open door knobs I saw one do it out at my grandma's farm.

 

[nccountrygirl]

We put house door knobs on our coop and keep them locked at night and when we are not home.

 

[Half-a-dozen]

I've heard the same about the toddler rule too!

 

[panner123]

We put those child proof latches on all our cabinets to keep the grand kids out when they were small. They worked great for the kids, but a coon figured them out. We went on vacation and a coon got in, what a mess.

 

[mandomama]

Ok! Then a lock is in order! Thank you.

 

[Gindee77]

Having lost almost an entire flock to a coon when I had chickens back a few years ago, I decided when we built this coop that it was going to be coon proof! Or at least as best as we could...they are crafty little beasts. (It really freaked me out...I thought my last coop was coon-proof.

The coons chewed thru the chicken door. I know it was a coon...we caught it the next night in a live trap.)
Anyway, we put 3 different latches on our coop. And it sits inside one of those metal garden sheds with a latch on it. Here's what our door to the coop looks like. It has a hasp on the top that we put a scissor snap on when we close up, a locking hook and eye latch in the middle and a hasp with a turnable eye on the bottom that also gets a scissor snap. No coon is going to stick his hand in this door and make a space big enough to slip thru!!! Okay so it was maybe overkill, but no coon is going to get my chickens again if I can help it!!!

Good luck, a locking door knob might work well, if the coon doesn't figure out how to unlock it. If it's a wooden door, I'd put a couple hasps with snaps on it too, just for a little extra security.

P.S. The coop was not finished at the point of this picture, it's not just that chicken wire you see in this photo...we also put a layer of 1/2" hardware cloth over the chicken wire! More overkill!

 

[mandomama]

Thanks gingee! That is really nice. We bought a lasp with a lock on it. I'll keep the key near our house so they should figure out how to use a key, I hope.

I'm also going to put hardware cloth over the windows so they dont go through the screens on the windows. Is that over kill?

 

[conny63malies]

oh yes they can. my tatooo guy had a pet racoon. This one would open them to get to her treats