Do my chicks need to be locked up in the coop at night?

[ChickenFajita6]

So hopefully within the next couple weeks our coop & run will be finished enough to move the chicks out to it. They'll be about 10 weeks old by then.
They will have a nice sized coop with an attached run. Overnight, is there a need to shut them up in the coop? Or can it be left open so they can come and go as they please? I figure they'll wake up earlier than I can get out there to deal with them, so they might enjoy early mornings out in the run. The run and coop are hopefully being built in a way that protects them from predators (using 1/2" hardware cloth for the run, it will be on the roof as well).

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

If you are secure in the security of your setup, there is not need to confine them to the coop at night, no. Closing the coop at night does provide an added layer of security (depending on how it is closed, that is), but it is not an absolute necessity if one has constructed a fully secure enclosure and/or failing that is okay with accepting the risk of not doing so.

 

[SueT]

Most chicken predators come out at night. If you feel confident that they cannot tear thru, climb over, or dig under your fencing, then perhaps it's okay. That is what my daughter does. She lives in the city. She fortified her run after a dog tore thru the fencing and now she never closes her little coop.
I live in a rural area surrounded by woods where predators live. I get up before my chickens do, and I don't feel my run is as secure as my coop, so I lock mine in.

 

[ChickenFajita6]

Hmmm, I know we have things like raccoons and stray cats in the area. I am in a small neighborhood but in a suburban/rural area (we have deer, rabbits, and within a few miles I know there are coyotes and fox).

How does everyone get their chicks to go into the coop each evening? I guess that's my #1 concern. I'm afraid they'll be stubborn.

 

[TheFlyingFluffy]

I would say to 10/10 lock up your chicks at night. With about 14 chickens, we have accidentally forgotten to protect parts of our coop, and have woken up to dead chickens. Personally, I have never lost a baby chick, even when one ran away from us and slept outside for a day (we woke up and it was alseep on the porch). The situation depends on your predators. While a squirrel might seem like not much of a predator, they can easily attack baby chicks and we have woken up to find them scaring the crap out of full grown hens.

 

[Folly's place]

If your run is very secure, it's fine to leave the coop door open. If it's not really solid, lock them in their coop. Make everything as safe as possible! Mary

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Chickens naturally want to roost add night falls. Provided your coop is the most inviting area from their perspective they will seek it for roosting. Are these young birds being brooded without a mother hen or older birds to show them the ropes? If so it is sometimes necessary to teach them about going to roost.

 

[SueT]

How does everyone get their chicks to go into the coop each evening? I guess that's my #1 concern. I'm afraid they'll be stubborn.

Chickens naturally go into the coop when the sun goes down. What I have done with chicks being introduced to their coop for the first time, is lock them in the coop for 2 days, so they get accustomed to it as their home, their security. Then I let them into their run on the 3rd day. Yesterday was the 3rd day for my month old chicks. They peeked out the door, went out a little, back in, out a little more, back in etc... The 6 of them practiced getting back in for several minutes before they finally went out all the way. Once out, whenever there was a noise that startled them, they all scrambled back inside in a flash. They spent half their day outside, but went back in often. They went in of their own accord when the sun began going down. Had I not first acclimated them to the coop, they may well have been disoriented and huddled outside in a corner, not knowing to go back in.

 

[ChickenFajita6]

Chickens naturally want to roost add night falls. Provided your coop is the most inviting area from their perspective they will seek it for roosting. Are these young birds being brooded without a mother hen or older birds to show them the ropes? If so it is sometimes necessary to teach them about going to roost.

No mama to teach them except me, lol! And we are first time chicken owners. All 6 chicks are the same age.

 

[ChickenFajita6]

Chickens naturally go into the coop when the sun goes down. What I have done with chicks being introduced to their coop for the first time, is lock them in the coop for 2 days, so they get accustomed to it as their home, their security. Then I let them into their run on the 3rd day. Yesterday was the 3rd day for my month old chicks. They peeked out the door, went out a little, back in, out a little more, back in etc... The 6 of them practiced getting back in for several minutes before they finally went out all the way. Once out, whenever there was a noise that startled them, they all scrambled back inside in a flash. They spent half their day outside, but went back in often. They went in of their own accord when the sun began going down. Had I not first acclimated them to the coop, they may well have been disoriented and huddled outside in a corner, not knowing to go back in.

That makes sense. I did the same with my cat when we first moved, because I didn't want her lost and confused outside!! I am just worried about locking them in a hot coop for too long, because our days are already getting miserable. I think we'll have to look into one of the automatic doors so they can at least have the option to go out as soon as the sun comes up.