WARNING to walk-in coop owners

[DrFyl]

I did it! My Spidey Skills are rusty, but still intact. It helps that my husband overbuilds the sh*t out of every single thing, so I was actually able to drop down to the roosts, then on from there. Those roosts are going to be able to handle the world's heaviest chickens, lemme tell ya!

 

[Geckolady]

I would have called AAA. They come out when you lock yourself out, not just when your car breaks down. It would be lots of fun watching them try to open a chicken coop.

 

[nuthatched]

I would have called AAA. They come out when you lock yourself out, not just when your car breaks down. It would be lots of fun watching them try to open a chicken coop.

"Hello Ma'am, we got a call about a locked car, where's your Coupe?"
"It's my coop, actually, it's over here."
"Your Coupe?
"My coop. Did you bring a saw?"

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Doggie dooors to chicken r

I did it! My Spidey Skills are rusty, but still intact. It helps that my husband overbuilds the sh*t out of every single thing, so I was actually able to drop down to the roosts, then on from there. Those roosts are going to be able to handle the world's heaviest chickens, lemme tell ya!

you must have been the worlds best cat burger in a former life.

 

[bhawk-23]

So I'm not the only one to have done this? We had a wire attached to the outside locks fed through the hardware cloth to open them if we got stuck. It broke. I got stuck. DS was on a zoom playdate (COVID) playing Minecraft, and was not answering the home phone despite the 20+ calls! Luckily, my daughter could come get me, though it would be a wait because she was finally 1 car away from the pharmacy drive thru window after waiting over 15 minutes so she was NOT leaving the line. When she finally got here and asked DS where I was he just shrugged and continued on.
Man was I pissed when I finally got in. I always wondered what the parents, who I had never met (again, COVID), thought about the crazy lady yelling at her son about phones, coops, chickens, being stuck and to get off the damn computer!

The second time, no phone, no one home and during the polar vortex, I bent the door to unlock it.

The third time, it was much easier to bend that door.

Apparently it took bending the door twice and a small crack for hubs to realize I was going to break the damn door if there was a next time. So he fixed the safety pull using a rope instead.

 

[Hermits Garden]

So I'm not the only one to have done this? We had a wire attached to the outside locks fed through the hardware cloth to open them if we got stuck. It broke. I got stuck. DS was on a zoom playdate (COVID) playing Minecraft, and was not answering the home phone despite the 20+ calls! Luckily, my daughter could come get me, though it would be a wait because she was finally 1 car away from the pharmacy drive thru window after waiting over 15 minutes so she was NOT leaving the line. When she finally got here and asked DS where I was he just shrugged and continued on.
Man was I pissed when I finally got in. I always wondered what the parents, who I had never met (again, COVID), thought about the crazy lady yelling at her son about phones, coops, chickens, being stuck and to get off the damn computer!

The second time, no phone, no one home and during the polar vortex, I bent the door to unlock it.

The third time, it was much easier to bend that door.

Apparently it took bending the door twice and a small crack for hubs to realize I was going to break the damn door if there was a next time. So he fixed the safety pull using a rope instead.

I think I would have fixed it myself after the first time.

 

[bhawk-23]

I think I would have fixed it myself after the first time.

Fair enough....I do believe that may have been Hubby's thought also.

Edit to add: My ADHD is really good at thinking of something to do but then forgetting to do it until I am in that same precarious situation. Finally figured this out last spring and with meds I am improving hahahaha

 

[ThatUserNameAlreadyTaken]

If you use a storm door as the human door, or any kind of door with a lock on it, DISABLE THE INSIDE LOCK.

I just discovered that on my last trip to bring in some things to work on (chicks in three weeks), I accidentally nudged the lock into position, so when I closed the door--it's now locked.

We built our coop as a 12 x 10 shed, with the farthest 3 ft on the end as a garden tool closet with its own door. So now I will have to climb the interior wall on that end, and across the rafters, taking out the chicken wire I had installed, and down into the coop side. I'm pushing 60 and not looking forward to this test of my agility, but the hubs is waiting for an orthopedic surgery and is not a candidate. (I may have to tie him to a chair to enforce this, but whatever it takes.)

Once I get in there, I plan to disable the locking mechanism, as I see no reason I will EVER need to lock the coop from the inside, barring alien invaders. And if that's the case, I'd rather be in the house where the guns are.

So learn from my foolishness and beware the accidentally locking door!

Prior to your

If you use a storm door as the human door, or any kind of door with a lock on it, DISABLE THE INSIDE LOCK.

I just discovered that on my last trip to bring in some things to work on (chicks in three weeks), I accidentally nudged the lock into position, so when I closed the door--it's now locked.

We built our coop as a 12 x 10 shed, with the farthest 3 ft on the end as a garden tool closet with its own door. So now I will have to climb the interior wall on that end, and across the rafters, taking out the chicken wire I had installed, and down into the coop side. I'm pushing 60 and not looking forward to this test of my agility, but the hubs is waiting for an orthopedic surgery and is not a candidate. (I may have to tie him to a chair to enforce this, but whatever it takes.)

Once I get in there, I plan to disable the locking mechanism, as I see no reason I will EVER need to lock the coop from the inside, barring alien invaders. And if that's the case, I'd rather be in the house where the guns are.

So learn from my foolishness and beware the accidentally locking door!

Two things. One,. you could easily drill through that storm door. Based upon its appearance from the picture, it would have to layers of very light gauge steel, with a particle board core. Any cheap bimetal hole saw should do the trick.

If you do go to all of the trouble of climbing inside and disconnecting the inner locking mechanism, think about being locked inside your coop and now way to unlock the door.

 

[HomesteadDeb]

My chicken run door is a metal security door with the lock to the outside to secure it against goats or horses nudging the handle open, so I keep the key on a chain on the inside of the door in case it ever gets locked while I'm inside.

 

[kodster]

My DH locked me in the chicken run once by accident & went in the house. I had no phone. I stood there yelling for like 10 minutes throwing rocks trying to break windows. LOL. Man was I mad. & of course he thought it was hilarious.

Glad you got it straightened out!

LOL! I did that to myself, to the back door of the house. DH was in the office on the 2nd story and never heard me yelling for help. Fortunately, there is a window in the office, and I'm sure the neighbors were looking rather strangely at a 60+ year old woman throwing rocks at that window, as the window is at the front of the house! He finally heard the clink of the rocks on the window and came to the rescue.