For a walk in coop, how would you put the door swing?

[we3ernes]

Trying to work this out in my head and thinking through the pros and cons. For reference I won’t have to worry about snow build up at this location.

1. Doors that swing into the coop (assume it is raised above bedding is there):
PRO
- would clear chickens out of your path
- less escapees
CON
- would be less secure (relies on latch vs. structure to keep out predators)
- would take up more space inside the coop
- if visibility is limited (i.e. a solid door) you could injure a chicken


2. Doors that swing out of the coop:
PRO:
- would be more secure
- could be safer for chickens
- uses less space inside the coop
CON
- could lead to more escapees
- if chickens crowd the door can be difficult to step into the pen

Please tell me which you prefer and why. Feel free to add your own pros and cons that you think are important.

 

[apryl29]

Door would swing out b/c you'll have bedding and stuff on the floor that would build up and block the door, and possibly your birds will sit/ stand in front of the door and you don't want to hit them.

 

[Star and eclipsa]

Door would swing out b/c you'll have bedding and stuff on the floor that would build up and block the door, and possibly your birds will sit/ stand in front of the door and you don't want to hit them.

They will learn to move out of the way if it hits them enough times.

 

[Mr Pink]

I use deep litter so door to swing out ... never know what my littler level will be at any one particular time .

 

[lazy gardener]

I would have the door swing out. If it swings in, it's more apt to catch chicken toes, b/c they don't understand the concept of "moving out of the way." Even with my door swinging out, I have to close it part way, and wait a bit for the lingerers to get out of the way so I can finish closing the door all the way to the center of the threshold.

Get used to them crowding the door no matter what. They're like a bunch of kids waiting for the candy man to dispense the goodies. My flock is pretty well trained, so escapees are not that common. But, it helps to keep a big bad scary shovel, or even worse, a monster push broom handy to encourage them to move out of the way. An other useful trick is to wave a thin fiberglass or bamboo fence pole in front of the open door way. That keeps them from crowding the door.

I don't have any solid doors, so do not have the visibility issue. I can see how that might be problematic.

An absolute life saver (literally) for my door to the chicken run is a good old fashioned screen door spring so the door automatically closes behind me. When my hands are full going into the run, I don't have to worry about pulling the door closed behind me. You could do the same with your people door for the coop.

 

[dunnmom]

We mounted ours to swing out. I'm glad we did.

 

[we3ernes]

This is a still shot from the video tour that got me thinking about swinging in. You can see his door is raised above the bedding by a tall removable threshold....

 

[chickenpatti13]

Swing out.Otherwise you have to keep messing with the door when cleaning the coop and it gets in the way.I learned that lesson the hard way with my first coop.

 

[nminusyplusm]

My set up: coop doors swing out, run door swings in and is self closing.

 

[RonP]

Door swings out. I have to step over a 16" threshold to enter the coop. That keeps the deep bedding and chickens in.