Thoughts on the pop door I chose to use?

[Trisseh]

Hello all! I’m looking for some input on this unorthodox pop door I chose to use. I didn’t want a sliding door as we get a lot of wet then dry, hot then cold, weather and I didn’t want to deal with warping or shifting. We were going to just make a hatch type door and then I saw this and thought hey, that could work! Haha.

Don’t mind the clutter of the tarp etc, this coop is still in the building process. Haha. it’s an RV/Marine hatch, just a smidge under 12x12 inside dimensions; uv treated plastic, and has a rubber gasket for a watertight seal. I have it opening up and secured with an eye screwed into the wall, to form a “roof” during rainy weather.

my biggest concern is the closure. It has 2 turning locks on it, which can be adjusted by a screw so they’re easier or harder to turn. I haven’t seen any coons around, but a few roads over they’re all over the dairy farms. How easy do you think it would be for a trash panda to open this kind of hatch? I’m just wondering if I should have a secondary lock on it.



A bit of background on the rest of the structure and pen, the entire system is at the side of my house, about 8’ out from the wall at the closest point. I have a duck house nearby, with 2 connected pens that can be closed between them to separate the groups. The chook pen will be covered with mesh to prevent escapees and discourage the occasional hawk. Haven’t had issues with them with the ducks but who knows. Both pens have electric along the bottom to prevent digging and along the top for climbing preds. It’s a pos/neg fence and packs a punch. So far nothing has breached this fence other than one cat that made its way in there when a branch shorted the fence out last fall during a particularly heavy wind. (Nothing happened with the cat, it was a good cat. Haha).

So. Thoughts, suggestions? TIA!

 

[aart]

Hard to know if a coon could operate it.
One thing that struck me is that the latches might get jammed by ice in winter,
so it may need more protection from the elements.

 

[Trisseh]

Good point! It’s westward facing, but protected by a tree line so I’m not sure how much inclement weather is going to be hitting it. It might get a mill felt curtain or something over it...

 

[aart]

What is a mill felt curtain?
Not sure a mere curtain will do the trick.
I put an awning and wind block around mine as it faces west where all the nasty weather comes from.


Where are you in Canada?
Some parts are rather balmy while many are downright brutal.
Has your coop been thru a winter yet?

 

[Trisseh]

Oh, haha, sorry. Of course not everyone lives close to a paper mill. xD mill felt is the discarded press felt they use to make paper. It’s super heavy duty, industrial strength stuff. We use it for all kinds of things because it’s tough and stays pretty flexible even when wet or frozen. It works great as a flap covering over things because it’s heavy and wind doesn’t really move it.
I’m in NW Ontario, near Thunder Bay, so we get some pretty gnarly winter weather. Really cold, -40C for days, high winds, lots of snow, ice storms... every winter is different.
The duck house has been through a winter with no issue, this coop has not experienced one yet. Both coops were placed where they are so they’re sheltered by the house from northerly winds, and have a windbreak of mature jack pine/red pine on a slight hill to the west. Last year I got by with piling snow along the inside of the run as an extra windbreak. Of course I also had to shovel the snow away from the outside, to avoid it piling up and becoming a convenient step for the foxes and coyotes. Lol. It worked pretty well, the ducks didn’t seem to mind and usually wind is the dealbreaker for those ladies.