Do you ALWAYS lock your coop at dusk?

[4hens4us]

Definitely locked up every night. My girls seem to love to go to bed right as the sun is setting. Usually when I go to lock them up for the night, they're already snuggled up nicely in their nesting boxes. 2 in each - love it!

 

[Beekissed]

Never lock up....the dogs are on guard.

 

[flgardengirl]

I lock em up because if I don't, I will be missing some in the morning. Lock up the ducks and guineas too.

 

[Debbi]

Yes! Every single night, too many predators here. That said, the chooks and coop are in a totally enclosed run, with 2 strands of electric fence on the outside. If I go to town or think I may not be back by dark, I make sure to turn on the electric fence. During the day when I'm home, I turn it off so it can re-charge.

 

[secuono]

I always lock up, unless I don't realize how dark it is already. It's too dark and there are no lights, so If I can't see all the trees, holes, sticks in my way, I'm no walking over to close it.

 

[Rockin' Reds]

Yep....every night. We have a lot of raccoons here and I am always terrified of a massacre. It would devastate me, so even if I don't get there right at dusk I always lock up.

 

[Suechick]

We lock ours up in the coop every night. If we're going to be home late we have a neighbor do it for us. Our yard is small and we haven't invested in a covered run so they would def not be safe if they weren't locked up. I've seen too many skunks and possums strolling through the yard to leave the coop open.

 

[cat1994]

My coon dog kills anything that wants to kill my chickens. I have not lost a chicken to a any pest b/c i have her. So i stoped locking the coop and i have not lost one yet. once she dies i will have to lock it.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I lock them in every night, but sometimes that "night" is a lot later than dusk. If I am home at dusk I go out and shut them all in about the time the sun sets. On the nights that I get home really late, I just lock them up whenever I get home. Sometimes it is midnight or later. They are all locked in the run/coop area when I'm not home. They are also only about 25' from my backyard with two very barky dogs. I'm sure that helps. So far I have not had any problems at all.

 

[woodmort]

I have a light inside mine that goes off at 9 and I try to have it closed up by then--except in the summer when it is light longer. Tonight we were at my daughter's for my grandson's birthday celebration and it went on longer than expected so we didn't get home until 9:30. I expected to come home to slaughter--had I know we'd be home so late I wouldn't have let the birds out--but they were all ok. Have seen a fox and coon on the game camera so was really concerned. I figure the light inside will probably give predators second thoughts but once that goes off and the birds settle down, who knows. Better safe than sorry.