How about a dog door for a coop door?

[GardeNerd]

Hi,

I am in the process of building my coop, mostly of recycled stuff and extra lumber a neighbor is getting rid of. I was trying to come up with an easily opened and closed door from the coop and leading out to the run, without having to access the run each time. I have an old aluminum large dog size dog door, maybe 12" X 17", that has the plastic flap removed (wore out) but it still has the slider to close it. The slider is pretty light weight and I was thinking of attaching a string or chain to lift it open and closed from outside. It even has a locking latch. Has anyone ever used this type door for a coop door? If so, are there any problems using it or hazards? Do you know of any pics? Thanks for the advice.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Sounds just like a hen door to me. I've seen sliding type hen doors before, especially for automatic doors.

That sounds exactly like the two doors we installed for our dog and they cost us $175 a piece.

 

[GardeNerd]

Where would I buy a "hen door?" There are no Tractor Supply stores here. I'm lucky that there is actually a feed store in Bellflower not too far away?

Automatic would be fabulous. I briefly looked. The only one I found online was $300. Not going to happen in a recycled coop, not yet anyway.

$175 is a little better. Is that for the kind with the collar for the dog?

 

[BeardedChick]

I used a dogdoor w/ slider (no flap) for my coop and I really like it. It's very safe and secure at night. I have not rigged it to a pulley, I just go in and open it in the morning and close it at night.

Last year's pullets:

 

[A.J.'s]

I cut a hole in the house and I place a bottom to an umberelle stand I found at the dump. didnt cost me a thing and looks good and keeps the chickens in and the boogars out.
its the thingy that is very heavy and has a hole the porch umbrealla is stuck in.. to hold it up.. u no what i mean?
i just lay it down in the day time and stand it up at night...

but im into not spending a nickle in this more than i have to.. the 10 dollars a week i make on eggs hardly covers the cost of feed and I aint raising pets they have to work for their keep and if they want a fancy door like that a they will have to start working over time..
life aint cheap u know

 

[GardeNerd]

What size is your door, BeardedChick? It looks like an extra large dog size. I love the pic with the pullets using it. Thank you.

Will my old door be big enough for a full sized hen, like a Black Australorp, to use?

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
Perhaps I should have said that it sounds just like a hen door that many people have built. Nobody really markets a specific hen door, except for some fairly expensive automatic ones that operate on a timer/photocell. Just consider your doggy door a "pet door".

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
I built my own door out of the sheathing that I had cut and some 1x3 pine trim. 12"x18" was perfect.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

If you have one laying around just use it. My point was that they are expensive, so why let it go to waste?

Just for the heck of it, here are both sides of one that I installed for the dog. This one leads onto the back porch and the other is through a brick wall to the backyard.

 

[GardeNerd]

Through a brick wall, whoa, I'm impressed. That is not something I would want to have to do. Then again, there aren't that many brick houses socal, mostly stucco.

I do plan on putting one out to the back for my golden retriever, George. I want to do install it with the extension to make it fit a wall. Was it hard? Fortunately, George is well behaved and just barks once when he is done and waits and waits for someone to let him back in.

The dog door is free. It used to give George access to the garage.