Necessity of a coop door

[centralcaligirl]

There is no need for one, if you are confident in your set up! I would suggest having a game camera or two, so you know whats lurking around at night.

Do you have some pictures of your coop and run that you can post?

I have a door on my set up, I've only used it a couple times. Every opening on my coop is covered with 1/2 inch hardware cloth. My run is all 1/2 inch HWC, it has a solid roof and I have an apron around the whole perimeter. I have 2 game cameras set up. I have raccoons, possums and a fox once in a while that come by. They rarely try to get in anymore, once in a while I'll see some scratching, but they hit the apron and go away.


View attachment 2276966

How high is your apron? It looks like maybe three feet? We are putting in a new run and also have opossums and raccoons as our main predators.

 

[blackdog043]

How high is your apron? It looks like maybe three feet? We are putting in a new run and also have opossums and raccoons as our main predators.

An apron goes on the ground to prevent digging, it's 18 - 24 inches out and held down with landscape pins. My whole run is 1/2" hardware cloth. The bottom 4 ft is industrial shelving racks and covered with the HWC.

 

[centralcaligirl]

Oh I see it now. Thanks for clarifying and the additional pictures. It's a very nice set-up.

 

[RobertaD1]

Sure... you can go without a coop door... if you are absolutely 100% sure!

BUT... Just a little story for you.....
We were 100% so sure our run was secure, 5 yrs ago, that in the summer, we would leave the coop door open at night. We had an apron.... double wire.... Hardware cloth over fencing.... it was tight! Then, one night, my husband heard a commotion in the chicken house at about 10 pm. LOW and BEHOLD.... a mink had found its way into the run, and was in the process of fighting our rooster. The rooster did his job by giving his life for his hens! But, as my husband was trying to get his gun and back to the run, the mink was in the process of trying to drag his prize through the 1in hole he had found to get into. That mink didnt stand a chance once he was face the shotgun... (whole OTHER story... quite entertaining too) BUT after that night.... we never left the coop door open again! We have even built a BIGGER more secure run and we are 125% sure is tight.... I will STILL truck my butt down the hill to shut the door

Its a personal choice!

 

[DaisyG2317]

There is no need for one, if you are confident in your set up! I would suggest having a game camera or two, so you know whats lurking around at night.

Do you have some pictures of your coop and run that you can post?

I have a door on my set up, I've only used it a couple times. Every opening on my coop is covered with 1/2 inch hardware cloth. My run is all 1/2 inch HWC, it has a solid roof and I have an apron around the whole perimeter. I have 2 game cameras set up. I have raccoons, possums and a fox once in a while that come by. They rarely try to get in anymore, once in a while I'll see some scratching, but they hit the apron and go away.


View attachment 2276966

Not to hijack thread, but I love your setup! How big is your coop and run?

 

[little_chick_homestead]

Still have a coop door,

Hi! First time chick raiser here. My girls are about 1 month old, still inside. I'm putting the finishing touches on my coop and run. I feel pretty confident that the run and coop are predator proof. My question is how neccesary is a coop door for a coop? I've seen people who shut the door each night, automatic closers, etc. Is it completely neccesary? TIA!
Located in New Hampshire.

I made a mistake similar and lost three of my babies last month, my pen is really secure, I have two pens, and two coops, I didn't lock up the chicks as they didn't like being in the coop. I knew my pen was secure, until one morning, I found three of my girls, dead, raccoons killed them and it was really sad, because they took my favorite REd Sex Link, and my Favorite Orpington, the Bronw LEghorn who died as well, she would have had to be culled anyways, as she had a broken wing that didn't heal correctly. Lock your birds up, its safer no matter what.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I'm gonna be the one who is overly cautious and say I'd close it every night. I had a bear rip out all of my hardware cloth from the coop windows and pull off half the siding from my coop. In two years of keeping chickens, and living close to other people, I never imagined a bear. He didn't kill any of my chickens, but 4 days later he killed 12 of my neighbors chickens after breaking into their coop. You just never know! With that said, in terms of remaining predators, I'm sure you'd be fine.

 

[priscillaJ]

I am confident of the security of my attached run so I leave the little door open to it at night. That way, I don't feel the need to get out of bed before my coffee in in the morning just to run down and let them out! In the winter I close it for warmth.

 

[blackdog043]

Not to hijack thread, but I love your setup! How big is your coop and run?

Thank you! My coop is 8 x 12 and the run is 8 x 24.

 

[Chickentender2020]

i always put my chickens away at night with a locked door. they need it for winter for sure. i'm in missouri and our cold wind gets bad sometimes in the winter. that way if its to cold i can just shut the door to keep the coop or actually i ended up with a dang barn hahah we put in a dog door