What Type of Pop Door??

[Humhill]

DH and I are now to the point of creating our pop door.
What type of door do you prefer? Guillotine? Drawbridge? Top Hinge? Something else I haven't thought of?
What would you do differently to your door?

 

[Montana-Hens]

I had hinged on my first coop, and was drafty around it. I how have guillotine and like it better b/c it overlaps the edges of the opening and we have eliminated those drafts.

 

[drunkdog]

each style has +/- a picture of your application would help to determine better, for example is the coop elevated or full height etc....if its full height then a drawbridge style probably wont work for ya...

 

[MakNugget]

I have two for the same opening. I have a right swinging exterior door that closes with a hasp (auto weatherstripping) and carabiner. The inside door is a sliding guillotine style that slides below the opening level to reduce drafts. It's also self locking, Goonies-style. When I lower the door via pulley, a counterweight pulls across a block of wood over the door, making it impossible for the door to be lifted from the outside. The main reason for the double door was for draft protection since the door faces the side that receives the cold air (usually). I may consider later on to replace one or both doors with automatic doors at some point.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

On 2 of my coops I have exterior vertical guillotine doors with the pull ropes going to the outside of the runs. On my roo pad the door is an interior horizontal slider that is opened by a lever from the outside of the coop. I don't particularly care for hinged pop doors, but that's just a matter of personal preference.

 

[elmo]

I have a drawbridge door that hooks on the inside so I can open and close it from the access door on the side of the coop (don't have to go inside the run to open or close the pop door...good!). My coop is raised, so the drawbridge when down also forms a sort of perch for the chickens to fly up to when they enter and exit. Works great.

I also have a inner door that slides to the side. It makes me feel better that there's no way the drawbridge door could accidentally be unlatched and opened by the chickens at night.

 

[Green_Eggs_and_Ham]

Hi Humhill, Like the others, I like the guillotine door.

We installed a metal door and an automatic door opener. The door goes 3 inches below the floor so the raccoons can't get their mitts under it and lift it.

I highly recommend an automatic door opener. I don't know of any for sliding doors or hinge doors. I installed it my self using a scrap piece of sheet metal and some 1x wood for the rails. The motor installed in minutes. Literally.

I bought a $10 timer at Lowes and it works great! I know there are a lot of opinions on the type of door motor on BYC, but I did my own research and like this one.http://www.discounthomeautomation.com/Add-A-Motor-Chicken-Coop-Motor-AAD20 It's a addamotor designed FOR chicken coops. It costs a lot less than the other ones mentioned throughout this discussion board. This Discount Home site has it for less than the manufacturer too.

We really love it and I have yet to have ANY problems with it.

Now if I can just get it hooked up to a solar panel, I'd be REALLY happy!

Hope that helps.

E/