Show me your cold-climate "pop doors" please!

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Since I'm tripling my coop size this summer--I thought I'd ask what those of us northerners use as pop holes? Currently I have two LARGE rectangles in my coops for my chickens to come / go out of. However, they are NOT very draft-proof at all...and with plans to house 8 breeds of chickens, I do not want 8 holes to make my coop as wind-proof as SWISS CHEESE!

My idea was to maybe make ramps with two sides & a roof on them that are angled downwards to prevent drafts from whipping to the coop--however, maybe make the roofs of these removable to allow a breeze in the summer time? We get above 100 for about two weeks of the summer...and I'd hate to decrease my ventilation too much...

Does anyone have anything similar to this? Some of my breeds are very large & do not roost very high off the ground so they would be in the direct path of wind/cold....

 

[WiseChicks]

hmmmmm........

Are you saying that you want to keep 8 segregated areas, each with their own entrance?

Katie

 

[pinguin]

Our (our chickens' pop hole is at ground level & not a ramp, so perhaps this wouldn't work as easily for you. I made a 2x2 frame a bit taller than the height of the pop hole, about a foot wide & several feet long. Plywood floor. Then stapled heavy-weight sheeting plastic around it (used when curing concrete) to make a fairly draft-proof entry way. Attached the assembly with screws to the side of the coop. Once spring does more than a one-night stand, we'll remove it. Or not. Even in warmer weather it'll provide protection from wind-blown rain.

Girls (& boys) were a bit leery at first, but got the hang of it within 10 minutes.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

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Yes because I need to keep my breeds all separated. My other coop will only house two breeds.

I was thinking of making FOUR holes & separating them down the middle to decrease the number of holes in the entire structure...

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

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Do you have any pics? I can't put mine at ground level because my coop would flood otherwise.

We're working on more french drains & water re-routing--but for now, it's not possible.

 

[pinguin]

Sure. We're not talking Better-Homes-and-Coops here, though. Rustic is being kind.

I'll see if I have a pic on my computer; if not, I'll take a pic when I go out in a bit to check for eggs.

 

[pinguin]

We have bantams, so dimensions would be larger for standard birds. The roos have to duck, now that they're full grown, but they don't seem to mind.

 

[ChooksChick]

We have an 8'x8' prefab garden shed as our coop, about 4" off the ground on sand and blocks (deep, wet yard if it rains) and our fat Barred Rocks make it in a pop door that's 8"x7" cut flush with the bottom of the coop on the East wall center. The door is a plexiglass slide that we remove during the day and is held in by pins at night.

This pop-hole is covered by a frame that used to be a work table with drawers on one side that is now a poop-shelf with 2 laying boxes on the side. The roost is a 2"x4" a foot or so above the top of the former work bench, with a lower roost along the side for them to hop up. We cover it in a thin layer of hay and to clean the coop, I simply put a bin at the end of the shelf on the floor and one push sweeps the whole mess in! I toss it in the compost pile and re-hay the shelf- voila! I love the ease!

The poop-shelf also serves the purpose of shielding them from the wind should they choose to stay inside when it's cold out. It has worked marvelously! Above the 24" board they don't get a draft, and they are perched in from of a heater.

When it was near 0 degrees for a long, windy time this winter, two boards were placed within the frame of the workbench/poop-shelf area where it is normally just legs- that gave them a small room they would walk through that had the opening offset from their pop-hole, making a sort of air-lock. I took it down as soon as it was in the 30's/40's to give them more free space. It did the trick to keep them from the big drafts when they chose to stay in, but there were days when it was so bitter and way below 0 that I just left them in with their ceramic bulb keeping them warm(er).

I can't say I'd have a bunch of separate entrances without solid walls between, though, because it will cause drafts if you have any wind at all.

Sadly, it was a wind-chill of just 4F last night, after hitting 82 last week, so I'm contemplating putting the boards back on the frame...we never know what it will be like around here!

Pinguin, with the boards up, it's effectively the same kind of thing as yours, but inside the coop...and taller

I like the idea of doing it as an external add-on, though!

Cheers!

 

[beektoria]

Cool...I like this chicken 'foyer'. We have some nasty winds here,we live on the lee side of a rise and it comes tumbling through here and takes down trees and branches like mad. I think this is something that I will have to add to my coop/tractor plans.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

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Geez, my birds don't have the hilton, either! LOL