Let's talk locks

[Celticdragonfly]

So in the next couple of weeks the wonderful people at Little Coop on the Prairie are going to come build a coop and run in our backyard. Yay!

And there will be a door into the run, and since the What I'd Have Done Differently thread has convinced me, a full height coop with its own door to the outside.

I figure I ought to have some kind of locks on them. I don't know if I'm likely to have problems with *people* going in there or not, but I hear raccoons are crafty beasts, and just because I haven't seen them around, doesn't mean they're not here.

What do y'all do about locking your henhouses? I'd prefer not to do something with a key, because then I have to not lose the key. But the thought of my teen daughter trying to manage a combination lock super early in the morning before school ... eep. So I'm pondering over what's best.

 

[archeryrob]

We use pad lock clips on the houses with a carabiner and gate latches with a carabiner. Raccoons are smart, but they can't figure a carabiner. It takes several actions together to use it.

Pad lock hasp. Used on nesting box door

Gate latch. Used on run and house doors

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

I would just use a carabiner in place of a combo or pad lock as mentioned above

 

[paneubert]

If you want to go high tech, there are many padlocks that use a fingerprint to unlock. You can store multiple fingerprints in them. They are waterproof.

That being said, I have a combination padlock on my walk in coop, and just normal gate latches on my run gates. Anyone could open my run gates and let all my ladies out. Which does concern me, but not enough to do anything about it.

 

[The Lazy L]

Gate latch. Used on run and house doors

What I used on the coop and run about four feet from the ground. I'm in the country and never had a need to padlock or use a carabiner (coon proof).

 

[aart]

We use pad lock clips on the houses with a carabiner and gate latches with a carabiner. Raccoons are smart, but they can't figure a carabiner. It takes several actions together to use it.

Pad lock hasp. Used on nesting box door

Gate latch. Used on run and house doors

These are good^^^^ I use both of this type
Use carabineers or snap locks
And made some up too.

 

[archeryrob]

What I used on the coop and run about four feet from the ground. I'm in the country and never had a need to padlock or use a carabiner (coon proof).

I like Raccoon, but I don;t trust them. They are too smart for their own good. Check out this guy. I put up a bump bucket for the deer to eat corn. The deer never had time to figure it out. Little Rickie learned real fast how to wiggle the stick to make corn fall down. He learned this in two days also. They are way too smart.

Little Rickie is not with us anymore.

 

[Compost King]

Not sure if this counts as a lock but I found Raccoons can't open them... CinderBlocks! Some of my coops with small chicken door openings started getting Cinderblocks as doors because I can easily move them in and out of place but a Raccoon can't budge them.

 

[PirateGirl]

We use pad lock clips on the houses with a carabiner and gate latches with a carabiner. Raccoons are smart, but they can't figure a carabiner. It takes several actions together to use it.

Pad lock hasp. Used on nesting box door

Gate latch. Used on run and house doors

I also use a pad lock hasp like this photo, but there is a variety that the piece on the right also rotates. One more step for a raccoon or something to figure out and less likely your door/gate can blow or be pushed open. I then just run a carabiner through (not a padlock). I have two different sizes, but prefer the larger ones because I can operate them easily with gloves on (whether it's winter or just work gloves).

 

[Celticdragonfly]

I've just today realized that there's gate latches on the door to the run and the door to the coop - but that the lid to the nest boxes is also a door in, and it doesn't have a latch, and with the hang over, it's gonna be interesting getting one ON.

Sounds like carabiners are probably good enough in them. I have some paranoia about people ... I'd lock the gate to the whole back yard, but I don't want to be in a situation when I need to get out that gate and can't open it from the inside.