Is a door necessary in the coop?

[henrietta101]

My husband is currently in the garage working building our first coop. Our question is do we need to build a door for the entry into the coop? Our design is a house built off the ground with a run out the front. With the little ladder thingy leading into the coop, the entry, do we have to make a door? If so do you close the coop each night? We will have a secure run coming off the entry for them with an access door for us to get in to the chickens of course. My husband has cut out a door but did not think a door is necessary. is it?

 

[justbugged]

A door will help when you need to really clean the coop out. Chickens poop all the time, and a coop can get very nasty and even unsafe because of the ammonia the poop will give off. So I would go with a door in the coop.

 

[groundpecker]

Yes, you need a door. It will be much easier to clean and check on your birds at night if need be.

 

[yellowirenut]

are you talking about a one for people or one for the chickens?

yes to both. you need to get inside to clean it. My coop is small and one whole side lifts up for easy cleaning. Also yes for the chicken door also. The birds are curious what you are doing and when u go to clean things out they will want to be right there in the way. Also you will want to close it on cold nights in order to keep the wind from blowing in.

 

[DanEP]

Also if you don't have a pop door not only can your chickens get out but most things that eat them can get in.

 

[abercrombie575]

I have an open air coop/run. It was a three sided shed that we added a run to the front of it. As long as our run is secure REALLY SECURE then there's no need for a door.I live in Georgia where the weather does not get very cold and my chickens have done fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum!

Glad you joined us!

I'm guessing you are talking about a door for human access since you've already got that that ladder thingy for the chickens. Yes, you need one for a few different reasons. You need to have access to every inch of the coop. You never know where a hen will actually lay an egg or where you might have to retreive a sick or injured bird from. You need to ba able to clean all of it and change out the bedding. I like to look over the inside of my coop every night before I lock them up and again when I let them out. I have a totally different set-up than you, but I've found injured or dead chickens, snakes, and once a possum in there. I'd hate to lock a possum or such in with them overnight.

Do you need to lock the door every night. That depends on you. I do as an added safety feature. How do you feel about the security of your run? Some runs are totally secure, but the bigger you make it, the more likely it has a weakness. I like locking them up just to add an additional barrier between them and possible disaster, but your run just might be a whole lot more secure than mine. If you consider your run secure enough, one advantage to leaving it open is that you do not have to get out of bed real earlly in a Saturday morning to let them out.

Something else to consider. During cold weather, it is best ot not have a breeze blowing on the chickens when they are roosting. With their down coats they really can handle a lot colder weather than many people think, but wind chill is a bad factor. I don't know where you live or what your winters are like, but you might need to close the doors to keep a breeze off of them. In cold weather, they need good ventilation as protection against frostbite and ammonia build-up from their poop, but you need to avoid drafts hitting them directly. I achieve this by closing off all openings below them and have good ventilation above where they roost. Some people live where this is not a problem.

Good luck and again,

to the adventure!

 

[MontanaChickenLady]

I have a small chicken coop within a compound and have 5 chickens. My husband built them a great home and we decided to put a door within a door on the coop. The chickens have the smaller door that I can latch open or leave it closed for various reasons and that door is within the larger door for me so that I can access the birds when needed and also make it easier to clean it out, collect eggs, etc. This has worked out great given the space I have to work with. I wish I could figure out how to attach two pics that I have, but am really struggling here trying to do that.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How to post pictures/avatar
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26838

 

[MontanaChickenLady]

Thank you so much RidgeRunner for the posting a pic info. I may have just been missing one step. I'm going to try to post those two pics here.

Here goes nothing:

I'm so technologically challenged I just can't even believe it.