Need a new pop door design for winter, please help me!

[Noymira]

OK, we've got a shed coop with two pop doors, because we have two parts to our run we can leave open or separate. Here's what both doors currently look like.

This design has worked OK for the summer, but has clear design flaws I've found with regular use. The doors are hinged from the bottom, which makes them great ramps, but the space between the hinges and coop get filled with shavings and crap, making it a pain to close. I'm sick of cleaning this space every night and have a feeling with snow and ice it will be all but impossible to do. I need help with ideas for new door designs. I am also limited in construction tools and experience, so it needs to be something I can do with a non-powered hand saw and battery operated drill. I can get some help from my dad, but he's very busy this time of year and I'd like to do as much by myself as possible.

My first thought is to use the same basic idea of the pop doors I have now, but install them from the inside (after framing out a door) with the doors swinging and latching from one side, rather than top or bottom.

I have also looked at some designs that have a pop door that slides down from above the doorway inside, but those seem a bit more complicated for someone with little construction experience like me.

Any other easy, practical ideas I should be looking at?

 

[CupOJoe42]

You can put a 2 x 6 across the bottom on the inside to hold the shavings in. The chickens can hop over it to get out.

 

[darkmatter]

I also have a pop door that hinges at the bottom. The solution is simple, cut a strip of inner tube rubber and tack it over the hinge area. When you open/close the door, the poo pops off and will not get into and "gum up" the works. Mine has been in use twenty years, see my BYC page for pics. (I also used the rubber strips over the hinge on the egg doors to keep water/drafts out)

 

[Noymira]

Quote:
I do like that idea, thank you. You don't have issues with snow and ice building up in there in the winter?

 

[Hunter0704]

Why not take the pop door and mount it with hinges at the top of the opening on the outside? To keep it open, take a screw with an eye (round opening) and screw it into the bottom of the door on the outside..then make up or buy a hook so when you open the door you hook through the eye to hold the door open. Very simple to do, so you probably won't need your dad. Just think, you can say you did it yourself. How wonderful is that?

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
I do like that idea, thank you. You don't have issues with snow and ice building up in there in the winter?

No, the door is elevated a bit.

 

[luvmy33chicks]

Since my set up does not require me to lock my girls door at night I came up with my own solution.
I stapled 2 layers a clear shower curtain liner (heavier plastic would work better but havent found anything really clear that would work yet) over the door. Then just cut strips opposite each other to make flaps.
Kind of like the walk in refridgorators have. My girls were a little hesitant to walk through but got the idea after just a couple days.
I figure keeps out the cold a bit and the rain. Hope this helps.

 

[Noymira]

Quote:
That might be the simplest idea. The hinges are screwed into the board that's attached to the coop foundation, so I could unscrew that piece and turn the whole thing upside down. Then modify the top "lock" to use a hook latch at ground level to hold it open and lock it closed.

The only down side there is that I'm still dealing with shoveling snow and ice out of the way to make sure it all works and closes properly.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Take the door off, and reattach it on the inside, hinged at the top, with a latch of some sort to hold it open during the day. This is what I did with my breeder coop. In the evenings I just go down the line from the inside and drop the doors down. They can push their way back in at night, but then can't get back out until you open the door in the morning. I have a lot of roos, so having them confined until I let them out in the morning allows me to control how much noise the neighbors hear in the morning.

This way you don't have to worry about snow removal for it to work, too.

In the main layer coop, I leave the door open all the time, and just have a towel tacked over it that they can push through. keeps the drafts out.

 

[frostbite]

You don't need to use the door as a ramp, so you can just unscrew the hinges from where it is, and screw them back in where you want to relocate the door. I agree with the post that said make the door open into the coop, rather than out of, and use a hook and an eye to hold it closed. The chickens can hop into that opening without a ramp. You can hinge it at the side, too, and you may not need anything to hold it open, friction with your bedding will take care of that. My opening is 10 inches above the floor of the coop, so that there's room for the bedding below it. If clearing bedding around the door on the inside is a problem, then hinging it up with something to hang it on to keep it open might be better, but either way, side or top mounted, you won't have to worry about stuff getting in the hinges.

The door doesn't have to overlap the opening, a little crack, (smaller than a weasel skull), will help with ventilation!