Argument with the DW!

[DENALI]

I want to close the hens in each night especially the first couple of weeks. Wife wants to just leave the coop door open so they can go in and out as they please to the run so we dont have to worry about closing them in at night or letting them out in the morning. The coop and run are built within a chain linked yard that is patrolled by an Akita so i have no worries about skunks or coons etc getting to the coop/run before the Akita gets them. We have the run covered with netting so hawks arent a problem either.
Anyhow give me your opinions! Thanks!

 

[equine chick]

I put my chickens always in at night. Even if your akita is on guard the coons could manage to get by him unless he is housed in with the chickens.

 

[patandchickens]

Huh, I have more sense than to side with either person in a spousal argument

It comes down to

-- what you think the chances are that something will slink by while the Akita is asleep or interested in something else;

-- the chances that the Akita itself may be just a wee bit more interested in the culinary (or chase) potential of chickens than you expect;

-- and how bad you will feel if something gets your chickens after all, versus how much you dislike the bother of opening and closing doors every day.

You can always flip a coin

Pat

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

I'll stay away from whos right and add another thing to think about.
What are your temperatures. We only close ours in when its going to get really cold at night, to help keep the temp up inside.

 

[coffeemama]

We have dogs and still have had raccoons get some of our girls. It's not a right or wrong thing-just what's safest for your chickens

 

[mommy9994]

we don't shut ours up. They are in a fenced yard and have done fine.

 

[BJ]

It comes down to how secure the fence is. If something could get in, then close them up. If not, then leave them open. We have a totally secured fence. It is covered on top and stapled in. It is burried below so nothing can dig in. I plan on leaving the coop door open in the summertime.

 

[mandomama]

I say you take responsiblity for letting them in an out for the first couple of weeks and then DW can't complain. Also, I plan on leaving mine in the coop for the first couple of days at least so they know where home is. Then they can come and go. Also, there are those cool automatic doors that open and close based on the light. They're expensive though, $200 bucks.

 

[Churkenduse]

I live on the edge of a wild like preserve and have many preds around I do not lock them in at night, I didn't even fix the door when the wind blew it off last week. But my coop and rund are right up against the house.

Just having a dog on the property seems to keep the preds away. My dog caught a squerril and threw it around a few times and it never came back.

 

[Dawn419]

We don't lock our flock in the coops at night, either. When we first moved them to the coop/s last summer, Skip was working an odd-houred 2nd shift job and I was keeping those odd hours with him.

I didn't think it would be fair to the birds to have to keep the funky hours so we made sure our runs were secure and predator proof. Haven't suffered a loss to predators in the 10 months that we've had them.

Dawn

Edited to add: We have an Australian Shepherd who helps keep the pred's at bay and loves having the rabbits and chickens to guard.