Coop locked or unlocked at night?

[Texaschicken223]

Hi, I have 9 chickens in my backyard and I'm not sure if it's necessary to lock up my birds in their coop each night. I don't live rurally, or even close to that. I'm in a subdivision and raccoons aren't very common. Should I lock up my birds every night? Thank y'all for responses

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Personally, I would. I have 2 coops that open on to a run, but the run is locked. If your coops just open to free range, then lock them.

 

[CapricornFarm]

There are a lot more varmints in town than people think there are. Sooner or later, if you don't keep your chickens safe, something will kill and/or eat them. Could be a stray dog, they will kill every hen you have just for fun.

 

[Birdinhand]

the trouble with preventative measures is that you only find out after the fact that they were necessary... definitely lock them up in a secure coop at night. vermine are everywhere, they tend to be risk averse, so you might go a long time without a problem and them bam, they discovery your chickens and eat and or kill half of them in one attack. I live in the suburbs, we only have racoons, possum, cayote, bald eagles, red tailed hawks, and rats, to name a few. Our chickens rarely get to free range, I have to be with them, and even that is risky. so I guess it comes down to how much risk you are willing to take.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Lock, better safe than sorry. I'm in town, yard is fenced but I still lock up my girls.

 

[igorsMistress]

Lock 'em up. Just because you haven't seen a predator doesn't mean one isn't nearby. Better safe than sorry.