Help me with my chicken coop door!!!

[maligator2012]

Hey Friends!!

I have a coop with little chicken door that opens into a very very secure run for my chickens. I have had the coop and chickens for 8 months, a few things have tried to get in with no success. That being said I have started leaving the door to the run open for the chickens, this is going excellent. Now though its getting colder....so I would like to put something up that is almost like a fabric or plastic that they can run through and it would flap closed behind them, maybe with a slit in the middle that will part when they run through it....just to keep the wind out.....if its really bad weather I will go shut the door of course...any one have anything like this on their coop???

Thanks everyone!!

Denise

 

[yyz0yyz0]

You could try something like they use for loading docks. You could get some clear plastic and make some slits in it so it has fingers hanging down, use several layers with the slits offset from each other. I've made something like this for my basement door to help keep some of the cold out, it won't stop strong winds but will help with some of the wind.

whatever you use you may need to "train" the chickens to use it. Maybe start with it just hanging a little into the opening from the top and over time slowly lower it so more and more of the hole is covered. They will probably just duck under it when it's up high, but as it is lowered they will start to run out of ducking room and may start brushing against it as they come and go. If it's lowered slow enough I think they might get used to it and eventually just go right through it

 

[4 the Birds]

You could build an extension around your pop door to block wind. You may find that leaving the pop door open will give the birds fresh air and help move moisture up and out. I leave my pop door open year round. If your pop door is up on the coop with a ramp down and covered then very little drafty air will enter. It helps to have the door on the side of the coop downwind from most of your prevailing wind and weather. Hope this helps!