If i had a large enough house and run attatched, would it be ok to leave the door open of the house over night? Obviously id make sure it was completely safe. we'd have a fence around the garden so really the only predators would be cats and rats. Just curious... thanks Also what time do your hens awake and go to to bed?
Right at the moment, my coop has an open door, but the run is chain link wrapped with chicken wire, and covered with chicken wire, overlaid with shade cloth. Only predator I had was a coon before we wrapped the chain link with the chicken wire. I know a lot of people use hardware cloth, but the combination of the chain link/chicken wire seems to have worked so far for us. (But then the chain link alone worked for two years before that one coon came along, _)(*&$#^!!!) In answer to your second question, mine go by the "Fiddler on the Roof" song..... "Sunrise, Sunset".
It is pretty easy to think your run is 100% predatorproof. It is pretty exceedingly difficult to *make* a run 100% predatorproof, and darn near impossible to keep it that way 24/7/365/always. Browse the "Predators and Pests" section of BYC to hear what happens to many people who have left their popdoors open overnight, secure in the knowledge that their runs were definitely predatorproof, and then came out in the morning to a pile of feathers Just sayin', Pat
