Chicken coop pop doors: Size, height off the ground, and design ideas
When designing your first chicken coop, it’s hard to get everything right the first time. Unfortunately, it’s even harder to fix your mistakes down the road. But when it comes to your chicken coop door, there really are only a few things you need to get right: the size, the height off the ground or floor, and the security.
So how do you design a chicken coop door? A good chicken coop door is 10 inches wide x 10-13 inches high. The door should be at least 6 inches off the ground, and should swing outwards away from the coop. Some models of automatic doors work well. Manual doors need to have latches and locks that are absolutely secure against predators.
In this article, you will learn:
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Why can’t chickens just use the people-sized door?
Some beginners wonder why they can’t just leave the large coop door open during the day. Why can’t the chickens just leave and enter the coop through this door?
There are 3 main reasons why:
The chicken coop needs to be protected from the elements
The chicken coop needs to be protected from predators
Chickens want privacy in the coop, particularly if they are laying eggs
Leaving a large door open during the day is a particularly bad idea during cold months or inclement weather. Not only does a wide-open door let cold air in, it also allows rain, snow, and wind inside.
For your chickens to be healthy, they need their coop to be draft-free and dry. Wet organic bedding (such as straw or pine shavings) is a breeding ground for pathogens. Wet coops can also lead to cold chickens and frostbite.
One last thing, my chicken coop people-sized doors tend to catch the wind and slam shut. If a chicken were in the doorway, this would certainly injure, if not kill, her. If you do ever leave your people-sized door open, make sure you have it securely held.
The size of a chicken door
You will need to determine how big to make your chicken door based on these 4 factors:
Size of your chicken breeds
Roosters or no roosters
Threat of aerial predators
Weather and climate
Different chicken breeds need different pop hole sizes
Obviously, bantam chickens are much smaller than large breeds, so their doors can be smaller too.
How big should a chicken door be? Here are some rules of thumb:
Large breeds include Orpingtons, Brahmas, Cochins, Jersey Giants, and Langshans.
These larger breeds can still fit through smaller doors, however. But then you want to make sure the pop door ramp is very shallow so they don’t fall to the ground. Below is an adorable video of a giant Brahma coming out of a tiny pop hole door.
For more information on pop door ramps, check out my article, Chicken coop ramps: Your ultimate guide.
Roosters may prefer a larger chicken door
Roosters tend to be larger than hens, sometimes significantly so. You may want to keep this in mind when choosing your chicken door height.
However, some of my chicken coops have pop holes that are only 10 inches x 10 inches, and my standard size roosters have no problems getting in and out of the doors. It’s a tighter squeeze for my roosters than it is for my hens, but they don’t seem to mind.
My chickens are always squeezing into tight places when they’re foraging anyway. They also squeeze into tight spaces very quickly when they think they’re in danger. I think this is a natural action for them.
If aerial predators are a threat, consider a larger chicken door
This point comes from Gail Damerow’s book, Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, a favorite of mine. She notes that, “Chickens love to sit on the pop-hole ledge, surveying the outside world. When a chicken is occupying that perch, none of the others can get in or out.”
Normally, this isn’t much of a problem. The chickens will wait for the perching bird to move, or, more likely, they’ll shove their way past her anyway. However, Damerow warns that a perching bird can be a problem if chickens need to get into the coop very quickly. She says:
However, if your chicken coop is elevated off the ground, your chickens will most likely take shelter underneath the coop, rather than try to get into the chicken door all at once. For more information on whether you should elevate your coop or not, check out my article, Does your chicken coop need to be off the ground?
Large chicken doors are good in hot climates, bad in cold climates
A large chicken door will increase the ventilation in your coop, but it’ll also allow drafts in your coop. If you live in a hot climate, your chickens will welcome this increased air flow.
However, if you live in a place that gets cold winters, you want to reduce drafts as much as possible. A large door may also allow rain or snow into the coop, which is a huge problem. Your chicken coop and bedding need to stay dry if your chickens are to remain happy and healthy.
If you do have a larger chicken door and you live in a cold climate, you can hang curtains or plastic strips (think: dog door material) over the pop door. You will need to make sure your chickens learn how to go through the curtains—starting with the curtains open and then gradually closing them seems to work.
This would allow you to have increased air flow in the summer months with the curtains removed, but help keep the chill out in the colder months with curtains closed.
However, one huge benefit to having a smaller chicken door is that it can keep out larger predators, such as dogs, wolves, and wildcats.
Chicken coop doors: Height off the ground
How high should a chicken pop hole door be? A chicken pop hole door should be 6-12 inches above the level of the chicken coop floor, so that the bedding doesn’t block the doorway or spill outside. The height of the chicken coop door from the ground outside doesn’t matter, as long as chickens have a ramp to access doors that are 18-24+ inches high.
The reason the chicken pop hole door isn’t at floor level is because most chicken coops need bedding. (To know if your coop needs bedding, check out my article, What is chicken coop bedding and do you need it? Chicken coop bedding serves mainly as litter, but also as a cushion—chickens jumping from roosting bars or nesting boxes need a soft place to land so they don’t injure themselves.
Bedding can be anywhere from 3-18 inches thick. If you replace your bedding very frequently (e.g., once a week) and your roosting bars are low, you can get away with only 3 inches of bedding. If you’re using the deep litter method, your bedding will eventually get to be 12-18 inches thick.
Even if you don’t think you’ll use thick bedding, I recommend installing the chicken door at least 6 inches above floor height, just so you have some wiggle room, in case you change your mind later.
If your coop is elevated off the ground, you may need to build your chickens a ramp to easily access the coop from outside. To learn more about why most chicken coops should be elevated, check out my article, Does your chicken coop need to be off the ground?
For more information on chicken coop ramps, including when you need one and what angle it should be built at, check out my article, Chicken coop ramps: Your ultimate guide.
When should you open and close your chicken coop pop door?
Here’s another question I hear a lot:
Should you close a chicken coop door at night? A chicken coop door should be closed at night to protect chickens from predators, including raccoons, skunks, dogs, weasels, foxes, and snakes. Closed chicken coop doors also protect chickens from drafts, cold, and inclement weather.
The only time you should ever even consider not closing a chicken coop door is if both the weather is very hot (and drafts are a good thing) and you are absolutely certain your run is completely predator-proof. There are, unfortunately, so many animals who love to eat chickens.
Below is a great YouTube video showing an owl in somebody’s chicken run. The chicken keepers are initially totally perplexed on how it got in there. They were lucky they didn’t lose any chickens (the owl was actually feasting on a wild bird instead). Owls love to eat chickens.
I love how the woman tried to lure the owl out of the chicken run with the wild bird carcass, and then her dog grabs the carcass instead and runs off with it.
As far as when you should open your chicken door in the morning, I always wait until it’s light. A lot of predators are still out when the sun is just starting to rise, so I wait until it actually looks like daylight. In the summer, this may be around 7 am or even earlier. In the winter, it may be around 8:30 to 9 am during the short days.
Automatic vs. manual chicken coop doors
All of my chicken coops have manual doors. This is because I work from home. I’m always available to open the doors first thing in the morning. And then I close them as soon as the chickens are all back inside for the night.
For me, having an automatic chicken door wouldn’t save me any time. I have to go to the coops to bring the chicken food and water back into the house every night anyway.
However, if you have a less flexible schedule, you may want to consider an automatic chicken coop door. An automatic door can either be set to open and close at a certain time, or it can be set to open and close based on the level of light.
Automatic coop doors have both benefits and disadvantages. Below are some of the pros and cons.
Pros of automatic chicken coop doors
You don’t have to get up early to let your chickens out
You don’t have to remember to close the door at night
If you aren’t home when it gets dark, you don’t have to worry about your chickens
You can more easily leave your chickens to go on vacation
Cons of automatic chicken coop doors
If the power supply fails, the door may be open at night, leaving your chickens unprotected and exposed to drafts
Some automatic doors stop working if the temperature gets below freezing
If the door closes before all your chickens are in the coop, they will be stuck in the run all night
What is the best automatic chicken coop door?
I pored over dozens of chicken forums, chicken Facebook groups, and Amazon reviews to find out which automatic chicken coop doors are most highly recommended. There are a few brands of automatic chicken coop doors that came up over and over again as the very best automatic doors in the industry.
The best battery-powered chicken coop door
The ChickenGuard Chicken Coop Door is the most-recommended battery-powered automatic chicken door. This may be the highest-quality chicken coop door available, very heavy duty, designed for all weather, and it comes with a 3-year warranty (or at least at the time of this writing).
Although most batteries only last for 6-9 months, many chicken keepers have said that their ChickenGuard batteries lasted over a year. Regardless, the door does come with an indicator light to let you know the batteries are getting low and need to be changed.
Check out the YouTube video below that reviews the ChickenGuard Automatic Door. The man shows night video footage of his entire flock being stuck in the run because his previous door (not the ChickenGuard door) closed too early. The flock is massacred by what I think is a fox.
The man in the video explains that his previous door (not the ChickenGuard brand) was set to close on a timer, so when the days got longer, the door closed too early and the chickens were stuck in the run. You can set the ChickenGuard Automatic Door to close at a certain light level to prevent this problem.
The best solar-powered chicken coop door
When it comes to solar-powered chicken coop doors, the majority of chicken keepers recommended the Happy Henhouse Automatic Chicken Coop Door. However, if you check this coop door out here on Amazon, you’ll find one video review showing that the door, while it’s easy to install and works well, isn’t predator-proof.
There’s also a completely different kind of solar-powered door that many recommend, called the Coop Controls Automatic Door. This is a device that attaches to the side of your coop or run and actually closes your existing door.
Below is a YouTube video that shows you how it works and exactly how to install it:
Can you make your own automatic chicken coop door?
You can make your own automatic door if you’re the DIY type. If you search the chicken forums, you’ll find a lot of examples. Below is a YouTube video showing one example of a homemade automatic door.
Chicken coop pop door designs
Chicken coop door styles
If you decide you’d rather go the route of using a manual door, you’ll want to build your chicken door so it opens to the outside. This way, you don’t have to worry about bedding getting in the way, and the door will be easy for you to open and close.
There are several different styles of chicken doors you can choose from, including:
Swinging doors—these doors swing open on a horizontal plane
Sliding doors—these doors slide either horizontally or vertically
Ramp doors—these doors swing open downward on a vertical plane and also serve as a ramp for the birds to get into and out of the coop
Luckily, I have chicken coops that feature all of these designs, so I can show you examples of each.
Swinging chicken coop door
Sliding chicken coop door
Ramp chicken coop door
All three of these doors work fine. The ramp door is my least favorite. The ramp ended up being too steep. In order for the ramp to have been less steep, it would have to have been really long, which kind of defeats the purpose of a ramp door.
You can see in the photo below that my husband had to attach another board to the bottom of the coop at a shallower angle. Now the ramp door rests on that other board when it’s open.
If your coop isn’t elevated at all, you may be able to build a ramp door that works, but most coops should be elevated. To find out why, check out my article, Does your chicken coop need to be off the ground?
For more on ramps, check out my article, Chicken coop ramps: Your ultimate guide.
Chicken coop door latches
You’ll also need to make sure that your chicken door latches securely so that predators can’t get into the coop at night.
There are several different types of latches you can use, including:
Padlock-style with carabiner
Bolt
Self-Locking/Gravity Latch
Snap hook and chain
Padlock-style with carabiner chicken door latch
After having tried several different types of latches on chicken coops, my husband now exclusively uses the padlock-style with a carabiner on any new coop that he builds. These are very secure and we’ve never had any problems with them.
Bolt chicken door latch
The problem with using bolts is that they may not always line up correctly. You can see on the photos of my ramp door earlier in this article that I have two bolt locks, one on each side. These worked great for about 6 months, then the moisture from a harsh winter caused the ramp door to warp.
Now the bolts no longer line up with the openings. It’s a little hard to tell from the photo below, but I am unable to slide the bolt into the locked position. I could re-position the bolts, but the padlock-style lock with the carabiner on the top of the ramp door is so secure that I don’t need to do so.
I should have painted my ramp door and put a little overhang above it. This would have helped to protect it from the weather. Maybe it wouldn’t have warped so badly.
Self-locking/gravity chicken door latch
A self-locking/gravity latch works fine, but it doesn’t latch as securely as the padlock-style latch with a carabiner.
Note that you could use a carabiner to make this style of latch more secure as well.
Snap hook and chain chicken door latch
The snap hook and chain latch, as pictured below, is not secure. Do not use a snap hook and chain latch. Very small predators, like weasels, could, well, weasel their ways into the coop. Larger predators could potentially rip the door off because the snap hook and chain don’t allow for a tight fit between the door and the coop.
The small opening between the door and the coop may also allow for cold drafts in the coop during the winter nights.
I am not using my chicken coop with this latch right now, but when I do, I will replace the lock with one that is more secure.
The only time you would want to consider this latch is if you live in an area with zero predators, or if your run is so secure, you’re not worried about any predators being able to get near the chicken pop hole door.
Chicken door latches you find on cheap coops
I’m not sure what you would call the latch on the coop pictured below, but you find these on a lot of the cheap, wooden coops that are for sale pretty much everywhere, including Walmart, farm supply stores, or Amazon.
This latch is a total piece of junk!
Check out my article, Why you should never buy a coop from Amazon or Walmart, to learn more about why these coops are dangerous for your chickens.
Really, please don’t ever buy one!
You’ve got the perfect chicken coop door… What about the rest of the coop?
There are so many elements you need to plan for your first chicken coop. If you want to learn about them all in one easy place, check out my free video training, Chicken coops 101: Designing your chickens' dream home.
I put this video presentation together to teach you exactly what you need to consider when buying or building your first chicken coop.
When I first got chickens, choosing a chicken coop was one of the most stressful things for me. I had so many little (but important) questions that I couldn’t find reliable answers for. That’s why I put this video together—to answer all those questions for you in one spot.
And if you’re interested in simply purchasing a high-quality prebuilt coop, I highly recommend Rita Marie’s Chicken Coops.
Check out my review of my Rita Marie’s chicken coop, The BEST luxury coop you’ll ever buy: Spoil your chickens with Rita Marie’s.