how important is it to have a proper "man door" on a coop

[Baker Farm]

Hey, I've got my floor framed and sheeted for my coop. 6' x 8'. I am trying to finalize my design so I can buy my lumber to frame the walls, but I cant decide if I should make a man door on it, or just windows and a nice big clean out door.
I plan to build the nest boxes out with opening lid to access the eggs, so on a coop this size should I add a man door, or just windows, a big clean out door (not necessarily tall enough to walk in and out of), and my nest box access.
Tough decisions! open to advice from people who know what works.

Thanks

 

[1muttsfan]

As long as your clean out is big enough for you to get in the coop, you should be fine. I have to say, though, that I use "my" door all the time. My smaller coop has only a kids-sized door (playhouse in a former incarnation) and I find getting in and out very inconvenient - cleaning, catching birds, collecting stray eggs, and other tasks are quite a chore.

 

[HouseMouseHens]

I agree with the poster above me, a door is pretty important for a coop that large, since you'll need to get in it to clean.My coop is 8x9 and I have a door that people can go through, but it's only 4 and a half feet tall, so I have to hunch over a bit to go inside. So far I don't regret not making a full size door, and I have been going in and out it several times every day for a month while building the darn thing, so maybe that is an option for you?

 

[debid]

The only coop I wouldn't put a full-size door into is a hutch (and then I'd hinge the roof...) Easy access is important to me because, personally, I wouldn't want to have to crawl through the litter for anything. And there will be more times than you might think that you'll need to reach something in there.

 

[BGinVA]

My coop is 6'x8' as well and all we have is a 36"x36" double barn style door. From that door I can reach the entire coop with a rake to turn the bedding, reach the food and water, ect. On the back we have 3 fold down doors where I can poop scoop the top level under the roost and collect eggs from the bottom portion (when they start laying). So far I haven't found a problem with this set up, however being its only been completed a short time I've never done a complete clean out, I may have a change of opinion at that point, but not sure I will as I seem to have decent access to all areas and can still climb in, just not stand up.

Here's my coop

 

[lokua]

A full size door is a nice feature when it comes time to clean and fix things inside. It doesn't have to be huge but you want to be able to get in with out crawling in nasty bedding. Also consider ergonomics for when you clean out... You don't want to hunch over through a tiny door to rake out 20+ cubic feet of pine shavings and manure.

 

[debid]

A full size door is a nice feature when it comes time to clean and fix things inside. It doesn't have to be huge but you want to be able to get in with out crawling in nasty bedding. Also consider ergonomics for when you clean out... You don't want to hunch over through a tiny door to rake out 20+ cubic feet of pine shavings and manure.

That's a nice way to put it. I should have mentioned that we DIDN'T put a full-size door on ours. We hinged the short walls of a 4x8 but the coop space is about 4.5' tall so you can't stand in it. I can reach everything from those doors just fine and sweeping out is easy since it's on legs. HOWEVER, going inside to spray every square inch for mites recently wasn't so much fun. Next time, I'd build it tall enough to stand fully upright inside because while the kids can stand in there and are always happy to help, I wasn't about to ask them to spray.

 

[Baker Farm]

great advice here. I'll be going with the big door I think.
Thanks!
and thanks BGinVA for posting the picture of your coop. It's nice to see a similar sized coop. How many birds do you house in there? Should be ok for up to 12 based on the 4 sq. ft per bird thing.

Kyle

 

[duckinnut]

VERY

 

[silkiechicken]

I passed on a chicken door, human door and human height = best. Ours is also 6x8.

You can see my whole process at: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coop-build-2011