How to make a sliding door?

[mlmaxson]

When I started on making the coop, I had planned on making a door that goes out into the run that slides up and down. A typical door. The run is going to be a dog run/kennel that is not easy to get into and out of once it is butted up to the coop (I'll change this eventually, but I'm out of money now). So I won't have access to manually open and close the door. I was going to rig it so that a pull cord when through the coop so that I could pull the cord to open and allow gravity to close it. After I started I had to make the overall coop much shorter than I expected in order to conserve building materials. Now, I can't make a sliding up/down type door anymore because there's not enough room to pull it up above the hole.

I want to rig a door that slides side to side. What are some ideas so that I can still open and close the door from outside of the run?

 

[elmo]

Hmm. What I did was make an inner sliding door (slides from left to right), then an outer, hinged door that drops down (my chickens use this as their perch for going into the coop). I operate both of them from inside the coop. The drop down door latches on the inside with two hooks, then this gets covered up by the inner sliding door. (What can I say? I'm obsessive.) There are some pictures on my BYC page.

So far, my set up has been working nicely. When I tuck the chickens into bed at night, I simply close up the popdoor from the inside of the coop as I check on the chickens and pick up any late laid eggs.

I can't see from your coop picture whether this would work for you, though, because I can't see where and how big your human access door is.

 

[patandchickens]

Attach a long horizontal "handle", a broomstick or piece of 1x2 or whatever, so you can push/pull the door open/shut from beyond the run fence. Ta da

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[mlmaxson]

OH! I like the broom handle idea. That's great and so simple. Thanks!

 

[dianacirce]

Off topic, but what are the dimensions of your coop? And how many chickens fit comfortably in it?

 

[vistagan]

I used a gate hinge attached to a wooden door,
this can be folded down flat aginst the side

 

[yogifink]

Not to crash your party, but I think it would be much easier for you and look better, to make a hinged door if you want to be able to open and close it from the outside of the run.

Hinge the door at the top and then use a bit of string, attached to the bottom of the door via an eye hook. Run the sting up to a small pulley at the top of the run above the coop door, and then from that pulley to a second small pulley where you want it to exit the run.

The way the trim is set up, it will be difficult to flush mount a broom handle to the door and have it slide without causing the wood the split and fail once it becomes weathered. Not to mention, a piece of wood going from the coop, to the fence is a dandy place to roost during the day and may result in a few escapees.

 

[jimmywalt]

Let me offer some thoughts. I have a horizontal sliding door inside my coop. It started out as a manual open/close and then I modified it and made an electric open/close on a timer.

Here is a link to my thread showing the "automatic" part, but it also has a video link in it that you can clearly see how the door slides like you want yours to do.

Here's a link to the thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-5-bucks-with-a-radio-antenna-from-a-junkyard

Here's a link to my video from inside the coop:

Here's how yours would look.... I modified your picture. You would need to drill a small hole in the back side of your coop (maybe 1/2") and you can use metal or plastic rebar to push/pull the door open/close. the red lines above & below the door is the track made from 1"x2" wood. The door can be made out of any 1/4 to 1/2" thick wood.

PM me if you have any questions. I'd be happy to help you.