Happens all too often, here. One of us will latch the coop door from the inside while cleaning or gathering eggs. Or once in a while get locked in. I finally decided to make a latchstring latch, the old fashioned kind that used to be common in cabins. No cost other than a couple of screws. The latch is a piece of molding off an ancient piece of furniture. The catch is a bracket off a long-ago discarded under cabinet coffee maker & the guard, a scrap of 2x4.
View from the outside & inside. The string, tied to a nut, runs through the eye (hook & eye closure) on the outside of the coop. (Yes, I know hook & eyes aren't raccoon safe, but the door must be pulled tightly closed to be able to lift the hook. It's hard enough for older humans; children can't manage it.)
From the outside, pull the nut, raise the latch & unhook the hook. From the inside, lift the latch; the guard prevents the latch from being raised to high or lowered & possibly breaking the string. You can't see the string in the picture, but it's attached to the latch just to the right of the guard.
View from the outside & inside. The string, tied to a nut, runs through the eye (hook & eye closure) on the outside of the coop. (Yes, I know hook & eyes aren't raccoon safe, but the door must be pulled tightly closed to be able to lift the hook. It's hard enough for older humans; children can't manage it.)
From the outside, pull the nut, raise the latch & unhook the hook. From the inside, lift the latch; the guard prevents the latch from being raised to high or lowered & possibly breaking the string. You can't see the string in the picture, but it's attached to the latch just to the right of the guard.
