Chickens at night

[doubledfarms]

Ok I am new to chickens and have a question about the chickens and nighttime. Am I supposed to make sure the chickens are in the coop and can't get out at night into the run? I really wish I had a guru lol

 

[chick-in-florida]

some of mine sleep out in the run on a roost. as long as it's predator proof it doesn't matter to me.

 

[Jenny28]

Is your run predator proof? Ours have access to the run in the summer, and they actually prefer to roost out there. In the winter we shut the coop door at night to keep it warmer. Makes no difference as long as nothing can get in to eat them.

 

[doubledfarms]

I don't have a run yet as the chicks are 2-3 weeks old but I am planning on making it predator proof since my husband has informed me of hawks, coyotes, dogs, fox, cats, etc, etc that will try to kill my chickens. I just didn't know what I was suppose to do. Thanks so much!

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

I always close my girls up at night. My reasoning....why tempt fate.

 

[Ole rooster]

I also lock mine up. I had some critter climb over the pen side and make a mess out of the feeders. If the door hadn't a been closed I probably wouldn't have had chickens the next day. My coop is predator proof but not the pen. No top cover.

 

[Coop de Grille]

My coop and run are completely enclosed with hardware cloth and as predator proof as I could reasonably make it. I don't even have a closing pop door on my coop. My chickens are free to come and go as they please.

 

[acemario]

I have a chicken tractor that is completely enclosed. However, because we live in a canyon, our chickens would be a wonderful midnight snack for lots of hungry predators. For this reason, we also close the coop door at night. I would rather spend a few minutes each day to open and close the coop rather than lose one of our four ladies!

 

[Jenny28]

Our run is entirely enclosed in goat fencing. The coop is also attached to our goat barn, so unless the foxes and coyotes can pick locks, there is no way anything is getting in there. Not even a chipmunk.