Leaving chickens out in run while you're gone

[Laura518]

I let mine out into their enclosed run during the day when I'm gone. Nothing has ever got in, but the neighbors dog jumping and barking and terrorizing them has caused a serious injury to one. We had to put it down. Now I am in the process of fencing in my entire coop and enclosed run. The dogs owners did pay me for the damages, but still let it run loose, makes me so mad. Just because you live in the country, doesn't mean you can let your dog's roam free.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi.

You got lots of great advice already.

It truly is a personal choice, but I would let them free all day in the run you describe. However... I let mine free all day every day, rain or shine, home or not. I can lock them into a run if needed. And I have 3 dogs that patrol the property throughout the day. They are more LPD - livestock predator dogs than LGD, but they know my expectations and have cleared our pasture from predators many times.

I close my and open my doors every day and night. Way too many predators here. My neighbor leaves his open all the time and has lost one flock a couple years back and recently 2 hens. He is misinformed though and doesn't even realize who doing it. Also, I guess he doesn't care or he would change something.

Well, I think the predators might go to his place first because they also don't have to contend with dogs. But I still won't let my guard down.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I let mine out into their enclosed run during the day when I'm gone. Nothing has ever got in, but the neighbors dog jumping and barking and terrorizing them has caused a serious injury to one. We had to put it down. Now I am in the process of fencing in my entire coop and enclosed run. The dogs owners did pay me for the damages, but still let it run loose, makes me so mad. Just because you live in the country, doesn't mean you can let your dog's roam free.

No it doesn't! Call animal control if you aren't willing to take more aggressive steps next time he is on your property.

 

[Laura518]

No it doesn't! Call animal control if you aren't willing to take more aggressive steps next time he is on your property.

 

[torretornado]

I never ever close my pop door, so my chickens can go from run to coop and back anytime they want to.  I'm too lazy to get up at 0'dark-stupid and let the out for the day, and our schedule is such that I'd have times I wouldn't be around to put them back in anyway.  Don't trust auto-doors for no particular reason other than I don't trust them, although people use them with great success.  With my husband's position in his fraternity, we often leave town for days at a time and from the time she was 8 years old, our granddaughter has been in total charge of everything from the feeding to the egg gathering.  She does an amazing job, and she's now 10 years old.  So I need to have my setup as fuss-free as possible.

Our run is as predator-proof as possible, with a 2 foot hardware cloth skirt and hardware cloth apron.  It's fully covered with chicken wire wired in over cattle panels to deter overhead predators and pests, and that hardware cloth protection extends all the way around the coop.  In summer there is a sunshade covering the run, and in winter we use a mesh reinforced clear plastic greenhouse type cover. There are double latches on the doors. Only once did I have a "predator" try to get in, and that was our English Setter Molly.  She got overexcited when the young chicks were turned out into the run for the first time and tried digging underneath to get them.  She broke and bloodied a toenail and never tried it again - in fact she blamed the chickens for her "owie" and from that day on gave them wide berth, even when they were out free ranging.  

I like my chickens to be able to decide for themselves whether they want to be in the coop or in the run.  I don't have to try to herd them back in if the weather goes sour, don't have to teach them how to go in and out because the newer chicks just follow the older birds at night, and with our long winters here they don't have to be crammed into the coop until I can let them out.  If one chicken is being picked on a bit, she has plenty of hiding places provided and can get there on her own. 

What you do is entirely up to you. You'll find what works best for you as you go along!  Just remember that predators don't always come at night - if they're hungry and they know there's a chicken dinner close by, they don't care what time it is!!  Stray dogs can be a huge problem, so don't just think "wild animals".  

Welcome to BYC!!  Glad to have you here!

How far did you dig down to put your run "skirt"?

My husband and I were thinking a foot would be more than adequate.

 

[lazy gardener]

When I've put a skirt, I've put it horizontally below the sod.

 

[aart]

When I've put a skirt, I've put it horizontally below the sod.

Ditto Dat^^^

Doesn't need to be buried at all, unless you need clearance for mower.
Best going horizontally out from wall 18"-24".

There's a pretty good pic where it was laid on top of grass.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1110498/wire-around-coop#post_17093528

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have a horizontal skirt as well, mine's about 18", it was just too much hassle to dig it down especially with the roots of a large weeping willow tree in one corner.

I open up my coop in the morning and lock it up at dusk. They have free use of the run all day regardless if I'm here or not. My coop is fully enclosed in the run, which is chain link with a layer of hardware cloth that leads into the apron at the bottom, but the top is completely open (a conscious decision on my part, mostly due to a tall husband and the fact that the willow tree "weeps" into the run). You have to balance risk with other factors - obviously chickens don't want to be locked up all day in a coop, but you need to know the predator risks in your area as well.

 

[lazy gardener]

Quote: Eventually, the sod will grow up through a horizontal skirt, even if you don't bury it. You could always lay down the skirt, add a few rocks to hold it in place, and put down an inch or two of mulch over it, broadcast some more grass seed over the mulch. I would not be comfortable simply laying it on top of the grass, cause, I can be sure, we'd end up getting the mower tangled in it. Not good for either skirt or mower. You could even lay the skirt, and top it off with flakes of hay. They would decompose, and there would be enough grass seed in the hay to seed the area... This for the flockster who is not concerned about having a weed free lawn!

 

[Blooie]

We just ran ours up the side of the run about 2 feet, then folded it out at the bottom another foot (actually closer to 18 inches) or so and anchored it with landscape fabric staples pounded into the ground. Ken can mow right over it so there's no tall grass for creepy critters to hide in at the edge of the run. We were going to put big flat rocks on it, but the grass grew up through it so well that we just left it and now you can't even see it but it's there doing it's job.

We also did the same thing around the coop, but didn't run it up that high and ran it out further.


Putting the apron and skirt around the run.


Totally invisible but working hard! The log isn't there to "do" anything except provide the chicks with a place to hide if the Bigs got feisty. They don't need it anymore, but I kinda liked how it looked so I left it!