Pop door or no pop door?

[lambeke1]

Okay. I know WHAT a pop door is, I just don't know the why, when, where, and how's. First off, do I really need a pop door or can I just open the entry door a leave it open for them to get in and out. I have read that the pop door offers the chickens access to the coop in the event of an attck while keeping predators out of the coop and that does make a little since in theory, anyway. If I do make one, how big should it be? My coop is on the ground, so how high up should it be? And lastly, what is the best time to open in the a.m., should it stay open all day, when to close in the evening? So many questions for such a little door. My chicks are due in next Friday. Starting on my coop today.

 

[Judy]

It's certainly not a necessity, but in many setups it is a convenience. Just depends what your setup will be. I have one coop that has one and one that does not.

 

[elmo]

In cold climates, it's nice to have a small pop door because the coop stays a bit warmer without having a human size door left open all day.

I usually let our chickens out around sun up (or a bit later, when I take care of our indoor birds first) and close the pop door around sundown. Of course the times will vary throughout the year.

We have a new coop this year that's large enough so that I don't have to worry if I'm late in the morning or need to tuck the girls in to bed early some nights (because we're going somewhere). I have food and water inside the coop, so they can occupy themselves inside when they need to.

The only tricky thing about cutting a popdoor is to make sure you cut it high enough so that the bedding inside the coop doesn't spill out when the door is opened. I had to learn this lesson the hard way.

You want to cut your pop door a bit bigger than chicken size, but that will depend on the breeds of chickens you keep. Mine is about 16" high by 12" wide, for bantams. For standard size chickens, I have no idea because I don't keep those.