Full view glass door? It's free!

[ChixPix]

We are building our coop right now, and trying our best to use things we already have, or reclaimed materials.

My husband is a glass installer and a few years ago, bought a LOT of full view (all glass) storm doors. These are high dollar babies.
I'm really not wanting to buy a door, and keep thinking about these stupid storm doors (which are all tempered). Bad idea? We keep laughing about a raccoon sitting out side saying "I'm coming after YOU tubby." in the middle of the night.

I could frost the glass, or I could put a piece of thin plywood in there. I'm wondering if it would even be warm enough.

Opinions?

 

[CityChook]

I would TOTALLY put a glass door in my coop. I think the chickens would like looking outside and it will provide nice light.

Chickens can give Mr. Coon the finger (wing?) because you're going to LOCK that door anyways....

 

[patandchickens]

I dunno, I wouldn't do it in most situations. First, you will need to put some kind of "something" on it so that chickens do not try to fly through it and whack themselves senseless or break the glass. Second, unless you are VERY VERY sure that no dog or large raccoon will EVER EVER be right on the other side of that door under any circumstnaces, you would want to securely attach some sort of wire mesh as a backup in case the glass gets broken. Third, if it is located where dogs or other predators will not-infrequently be right on the other side of that door, I would personally frost it, at least the bottom 4' or so, so's not to overly tempt and excite yer predators. And finally, if you live somewhere that gets below freezing in the winter, it will become a condensation farm unless covered/insulated.

Oh, and you would not want it on the S or W side of the coop in a hot-summer climate.

Not saying don't do it -- but, *I* wouldn't

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

I haven't tried it, but it sounds fun to me. I think they would learn quickly not to walk through it.

 

[indianporfavor]

IMO i wouldnt think id worry too much about the glass door breaking since they are storm rated doors, so they probably have some kind of film that if they broke the film would hold everything in place.

but i would try and make sure that the door would not be facing the sun, because you wouldnt want the doors to cause your chickens to get too hot with the glass acting as a greenhouse of sorts. but i think that it would be fun to have a big view into the coop

good luck

 

[Zahboo]

I would and if your worried you could construct a hardware mesh door to lock over it. Just have it on hinges so it can overlap the glass door. I think it's a great idea.

 

[teach1rusl]

I have an all glass door in my coop and love it. It's double paned glass. It's a regular door, not a storm door. I love it and the chickens appear to love it too! The only downside I've encountered is that I do have to use either a mini blind or a curtain in the summer time, because it lets so much heat/sun in. In cold weather I remove the curtain and it really helps heat the coop up during the day.

 

[ChixPix]

ARGH... thanks for your help...
Now I don't know what to do. LOL.

I live in Missouri, and the door *has to* be on the west side. The doors are tempered so they are really hard to break. They are single pane tho, so I worry about winter getting too cold.

I'm just getting hung up on, "but it's freeeee!" lol

 

[augustmomx2]

The front of my coop is a sliding glass door. It was an un-used "playhouse" for the kids and became another storage building

Anywho, I wouldn't have it any other way! I love it and so do the girls. It faces East the sun rises and really warms the coop (when needed) and its the cutest seeing the girls all fighting for a spot in the sun! I don't have too much of a prob w/predators (I live in a suburban/urban area) and a great dog that protects them. On our smaller coop I insisted that dh make a large portion of the front plexi-glass and the chicks love it as well

 

[indianporfavor]

i think i would go with it, i think you can buy a set of mini blinds to fit it for probably 5 bucks at walmart if the sun is too bad.