Pop Doors, What would you change?

[tntchix]

I am fighting with my guillotine pop door.

It won't move in the track without getting stuck and we are almost ready for chicks to live in the coop.

My hubby bought a ready made coop and no changes were made so it came this way. I can't even get it open half the time. I know I have to keep them closed up so they know where "home" is, but...they gotta get out eventually, right? LOL

I am thinking about cutting down a thick, plastic cutting board that is close to same thickness and sliding that in the track.

What do you like and dislike about your pop doors?

 

[jetdog]

I had the same problem but mine is wood, with some aggressive sanding to the edges to make the edges more round and smooth it works fine now. It could be your door could be slightly warped if the cutting board will slide in the track it will be a more stable item to use.

 

[4 the Birds]

I am fighting with my guillotine pop door.

It won't move in the track without getting stuck and we are almost ready for chicks to live in the coop.

My hubby bought a ready made coop and no changes were made so it came this way. I can't even get it open half the time. I know I have to keep them closed up so they know where "home" is, but...they gotta get out eventually, right? LOL

I am thinking about cutting down a thick, plastic cutting board that is close to same thickness and sliding that in the track.

What do you like and dislike about your pop doors?

For me..... I don't even have one. Leaving a small opening from the coop to the run full time works great! This allows fresh air into the coop and full time access for the chickens into the run. Of course the run needs to be predator proof. During severe storms will I put a board up against the opening and lean something against the board. This past year I only did this once when it was way below zero and we had high blowing winds with snow. I also built a pop door tunnel to keep out winds.

 

[tntchix]

Ooh, I like the tunnel.

Once the run is finished and secure I won't be so worried. I just didn't want to teach them to come into the coop from the human door

.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

As was mentioned above, sanding and checking for warping might help. It could be a clearance issue or your lift point could be off center which would cause the door to get jammed everytime. It doesn't need to be a close fit in the tracks, as long as it fits the tracks well enough to not come out then it good.

I have a pop door but almost never close it as my run is predator proof. Couple times in the winter for storms I would close it but that was it.

Also try waxing the track and door edges. If you can remove the door, do it and rub a candle on the sliding edges and inside the track. If you can't remove it the raise it all the way and wax as much of it and the track as you can access.

 

[tntchix]

As was mentioned above, sanding and checking for warping might help. It could be a clearance issue or your lift point could be off center which would cause the door to get jammed everytime. It doesn't need to be a close fit in the tracks, as long as it fits the tracks well enough to not come out then it good.

I have a pop door but almost never close it as my run is predator proof. Couple times in the winter for storms I would close it but that was it.

Also try waxing the track and door edges. If you can remove the door, do it and rub a candle on the sliding edges and inside the track. If you can't remove it the raise it all the way and wax as much of it and the track as you can access.

I'm going to try sanding the edges down a bit on the original door. I still like the idea of the cutting board. We'll see.
I tried waxing last night, it's just too tight. Gotta trim it down for sure. Good news nobody is going to lift it from the outside like this.

 

[jetdog]

I'm going to try sanding the edges down a bit on the original door. I still like the idea of the cutting board. We'll see.
I tried waxing last night, it's just too tight. Gotta trim it down for sure. Good news nobody is going to lift it from the outside like this.

If your crafty go on YouTube and search for"locking chicken door"I made the 2 locks for my door and it works great I can't open it from the outside and neither can anything else. Pretty simple to make just a couple of L shaped arms that lock in to the jamb.Hope the sanding trick works.

 

[aart]

I am fighting with my guillotine pop door.

It won't move in the track without getting stuck and we are almost ready for chicks to live in the coop.

My hubby bought a ready made coop and no changes were made so it came this way. I can't even get it open half the time. I know I have to keep them closed up so they know where "home" is, but...they gotta get out eventually, right? LOL

I am thinking about cutting down a thick, plastic cutting board that is close to same thickness and sliding that in the track.

What do you like and dislike about your pop doors?

I have 2 that I built...one is very tight, so tight that it gets sand in it and jams sometimes.
Next one I built a little looser and it tilts a bit and sticks sometimes.

I'd try to figure out why it is not working then fix that problem.
Is the track too tight for the door?
Is the track or door warped?
Is the rope off center so it tilts and sticks?

The cutting board might work as long as the common problems above do not exist.

Good Luck!

 

[Blooie]

We bought a medium sized doggie door from Habitat for Humanity for $8.00. It's been working great! Since our run is offset from the coop (a product of the strange layout of our property) we put in a tunnel similar to what 4 the Birds did, except the opening to the run faces the south instead of going straight into the coop. This has had the added benefit of blocking the winds from getting in while allowing for additional ventilation. Our run is 99.9999 predator proof (I'd never be dumb enough to claim 100% when talking about predators) so we leave the pop door open all of the time. It locks at the bottom of the track if we need to close it, which I imagine we will in winter.


!
The coop and run finished. This is the offset run - you can see the tunnel to the left of the people door. It's enclosed all the way around and protected with hardware cloth, but it's open on the South side because of where we had to build the run. They love to lay there basking in the sun on nippier days.



We were still in the finishing and refining stages here.....and yes, that's snow falling in May! This was the set up before we put up the lattice...on the right of the run you can see the grey pop door open just behind the tunnel. We got the tunnel idea from one of the threads on here, and we are still grateful to that poster!

So what would I change about our pop door? Not a doggone thing!

 

[tntchix]

Thanks guys for all the input. Great looking coops and doors. For now he put a screw in the jamb so it can't be opened at all. Will decide what to do soon...