McChooky
Free Ranging
My brothers got dog kennels lined up across the street and more beside his office. They've all got dogs in them. It still takes an electric fence to keep the predators out here because we've got bob cats,coyotes and bear along with the rest. I split an order of chicks back in the spring with a friend and still have them all but my friends only got 2 left.You're right about hook and eye latches.
With my hens in their coop for the night, door locked with hook and eye latch, it's very unlikely anything will open that door. For one thing, the hook is difficult to put into or take out of the eye. Also the coop is elevated 18 inches off the ground. In addition, the coop is entirely within the run which has hardware cloth on walls and skirting.
The door to the run is also hook and eye (high up the door) which means a predator has to manipulate TWO hook and eye doors to get at the hens.
The door to the run needs improvement. At present I'm adding a concrete block at the base of the door to discourage prying it open. I need to add something like a bolt latch.
This whole set-up is within a backyard surrounded by 6 ft. high privacy fence in the middle of a neighborhood where I think every residence includes as least one dog. haha.
In 3 yrs. I've lived here, never seen or heard of raccoons in the area (desert). Saw one fox in the outskirts. I built the coop/run with foxes, coyotes, snakes, hawks, etc. in mind.