I am in the process of fixing up and modifying an old shed on my property to function as a chicken coop. I’m looking for ideas on ways to have a coop door leading to the run that would be openable from outside the coop via rope and pulley type system. Any suggestion or links would be much appreciated. My biggest concern is the reliability of a simple sliding wooden door in a wooden track type setup and I haven’t seen a way to incorporate drawer slides or similar without them getting bound up from dust accumulation. #grownostr #asknostr #permaculture #homesteading #chickens
Discussion
What about hinges and a vertical swinging board?
I’m concerned that something that free moving would be too accesible to raccoons looking for a snack
My simplest thought is to use 1/2" plywood for the door and make your wooden track-groove 3/4"-1". Leave lots of slop for the door to slide around in. But I don't know how critter-tight you need to be for any predators.
If your opening was a 1' square, maybe make the door a 14" square and use a 1×4 screwed vertically on both sides with a 1/2"-3/4" gap. Then screw a 1×6 to the 1×4 so it overhangs to form the outer edge of the track. If you made those 30" tall, you would be unlikely to pull the door out of the track in the up position
My biggest concern with critters is possum and raccoons. I’ve heard stories of raccoons even lifting automatic doors and getting into coops at night