sliding doors on coop????? ideas please

[critterrun]

I have to put doors on my coop

I was thinking about sliding doors

any ideas??
how to do it

or if good or bad
we had a lot of snow last year
and I was thinking it might work better

Thanks

 

[kichohana]

The only problem I can see with sliding doors is your coop flooring/bedding getting mucked into the tracks. I use deep litter in my coop and the girls kick it everywhere! I have 6" sand in their covered run and it also gets kicked out everywhere. Their outdoor run is just dirt - but they've dug huge craters for dustbathing in. So shavings, sand and dirt spread everywhere - would wreak havoc on sliding door tracks.

Unless... you did a sliding door on an overhead track like a barn-type door where there is no lower track. I have a sliding door on my back yard shed. Most of the time it works great - but it's very heavy to open and was kind of expensive to build.

 

[isabrownmom]

kichohana is absolutely right about shaving clogging up the track! I have sliding doors because we put windows above the doors (see my BYC page) and with my last flock I was constantly cleaning out the track! A complete hassle! This flock is more mild mannered and doesn't seem scratch up the shavings so it hasn't been too bad. We have a rod that push/pulls the door into place and you need to remember to give it some clearance as the wood expands and contracts. If you decide to go that route, I'd do a barn style slider and forget about a track system! Wished we had do so!!

 

[<3 N.C Chicken Chick <3]

I would get an hinge door. just my 2 cents, slideing doors will get messed up as said, and make noise when opened.

 

[teach1rusl]

I use sliding doors on both of my coops. If the door starts about 6 inches up, you shouldn't have any issues with bedding in the tracts. You can use 2" or so wide strips of plywood or any trim wood (whatever) for the tracts and 1" strips of the same (depth slightly wider than the panel you're using as a door) beneath that to create the spacer. My spacer is inset around a half inch...can be more. You do want your tract/spacer strips to be at least 6" or more longer than your door panel so theirs no wobbling when the door is fully opened.
Hope this pic helps a little:

 

[<3 N.C Chicken Chick <3]

woops I thought she was talking about the people door

Nice pop door

 

[wyododge]

I used a sliding door on my coop. The door is built out of OSB and 2x2's. I used a pocket door kit and auxiliary rollers on the bottom (no track) with guides to keep the door against the wall. The bottom of the door is off the ground about six inches and there is a blocker in the opening to keep the shavings inside. I clean up any shavings that fall down every few months when I clean the coop.

The door works great, it is very heavy (+/- 50 lbs) but opens with one hand, and is VERY secure when locked. We used a sliding door because we did not have room for a swing door. Given a choice, I would build it the same way again, easy to open a little or a lot, doesn't get caught by the wind, and no hinges to sag, or handles to turn with wet gloves. The pocket door kit was about 35 bucks I think.

You can see the door on my page, there are no pictures of the rollers on the bottom but I could grab a few if you want.

 

[windzbreezy]

nice definitely going to install one, less drafty if they want to freely go in and out during the winter.