Closing Coop Door at Night

[grettasurfergirl]

Just wondering if I need to close the little wooden sliding door on the coop at night if chicks are inside a hardware cloth run area anyway? Isn’t it likely that if anything gets into that small prefab run under the coop that they could also open this sliding door and get the chicks (13 weeks) anyway? I’m just not sure how much protection it provides and it isn’t always easy to remember to open it on a rushed morning! Thanks!

 

[rosemarythyme]

It's safe enough until it's not. A photo of your set up may help assess how secure it is.

Also if you're so rushed in the morning that you can't remember to check on the birds, I'd strongly suggest assigning multiple family members the task, so that at least someone looks in on them. At the very least I think the birds should be checked on in the morning and the evening.

 

[aart]

At the very least I think the birds should be checked on in the morning and the evening.

Absolutely!
Chicken are fun, and cute, and oh so hip...
....until you realize they can really take some time and attention,
just like dogs and cats.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Traditional coops in Florida can’t be closed. They’re open on one side, usually the south side. Growing up on a 20 acre farm in central Florida I never had night predation in the coop. I also had several free-range dogs though.

Now I live in the woods in north Florida and I close all of my coops at night. Its peace of mind. Only my guineas roost in an open coop, but its also in a lockable run, inside of a fenced yard, a few yards away from where my free range dogs sleep.

I simply have to make time to take care of the chickens in the morning. It means getting up 30 minutes early. That’s just a part of keeping livestock.

I’d recommend closing the coop especially while they’re immature. Even a snake is a major threat to them. I close my bannties up every night even though they’re in what’s likely the most secure run on my farm. All it would take would be one rat snake to wipe them out.

 

[moniquem]

Maybe you would benefit from one of those auto-pop doors?

 

[Chicken Heel]

You could try a hook and eye (with spring on the hook) on your small door and I would definitely shut it at night. I'm up at 5:30 AM 7 days a week opening my coop doors.

 

[IamRainey]

I made sure my run was as predator-proof as I could make it first. Then I was fine with a coop with no pop door. Three years and counting and no tragedy yet despite the constant presence of coyotes and raccoons among the local predators.

You can never make a mistake erring on the side of security for your entire enclosure.

 

[cmom]

I don't close my pop doors in my coops but have electric wire around my coops and pens, heavy duty netting covering all of my pens and concrete under the gates to my pens and have buried wire in some places along my fences, all because of losses to predators. Years ago before I put the netting up, I have 2 coops that are open on one side, I had an owl get in and kill several birds. Now I haven't had a loss in a very long time.

 

[Matilda Belle]

Yes, you absolutely need to shut the door every night. If a predator sees them, they will do whatever they can to break that run down, even if it is built solid.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Maybe you would benefit from one of those auto-pop doors?

Auto doors are great and I'm certainly glad to use it but they're still not a replacement for looking in on the birds in the morning.

Someone very recently on the forum lost their entire flock to heatstroke due to miscommunication where no one opened the coop door in the morning. An auto door could have accomplished that, but I've had mine glitch once or twice where it didn't open, so I know it's still on me (either in person or via coop cam) to make sure the door opens and closes each day.