Do you close the Coop door every night?

[southerndesert]

We close our birds up at night, it only takes a predator a few minutes to kill and it has happened to me when I got careless many years ago in Illinois and all were killed by a Coyote (s) when we forgot to close the door. Seems as though they were just waiting for their chance and boy they took it....

 

[maclady]

I close my girls in every night and go out every morning to let them out. I have never seen any nocturnal wildlife in my yard but I am still cautious.

 

[Rainbow Dash]

Sure do! I also place a towel over it and will start locking it soon.

 

[lcbova85]

No. They have their chicken coop and run together so they are fully enclosed. When I first got them i always closed them in because it made me nervous when it was open, and if we had a storm i would also lock them in. My husband said to leave it open for a couple of nights and see how they do, and they did well. But now, with warmer temps at night (low at night is 72ish) I leave it open all the time (like I said they are safe and enclosed)

 

[RoriStix]

I've been wondering about this myself. The run has proven secure in the past. It belonged to my friend, whose flock grew to the point that this run was too small for them. Lucky me, because I inherited it! We're in Colorado Springs and have raccoons, foxes, hawks, the occasional roaming coyote, and on VERY rare occasions, a bear or a mountain lion (the last two almost never wander into town, but it's not unheard of, either). The run will be inside a fenced yard, and I do have dogs. The dogs aren't outside all the time, but just the fact that they are here seems to keep other animals from wanting to come into the yard. I think the most likely problem would be a raccoon, since they are common and can go right over the fence and into the yard. Nonetheless, when all is said and done, I'll probably lock the chicks in at night. I do worry that they'll overheat, but the summers aren't overly warm here on most days. The chicks aren't in the coop yet, but the time is fast approaching. There are so many things to think about!

 

[Newbie in Screamer Al]

I leave my pop door from the run open in the summer. All the windows are open as well. BUT, every window door, entry doors to the coop and run, as well as the walls and roof of the run are all 14 ga. 1x2 hardwire that is burried 12 inches down, and 12 inches out from the walls. If I did not build a fortress, I would definately close off the pop door at nite.

 

[BrokenRoadFarm]

We lock our coop up every night, despite it being inside a fully enclosed run that we hope is like Ft. Knox. We have all kinds of predators where we are - raccoons, possums, foxes, hawks, owls, dogs...not taking any chances!! Although I am not sure how it would hold up against a bear....hopefully we will never find out!

 

[speckledhen]

I close it every night, without fail, even the pen that has a cover on it. No pen is predator proof, even if you think it is.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Not shutting the coop door is almost as bad as just throwing them outside at night for me and my coop setup. All it takes is one wandering predator...

 

[sgtmom52]

I close my coop up tight every night because this is what is getting into my run at night. This picture was taken inside the run. I have 6' high fence covered in aviary netting and he finds his way in anyway! I will be setting up a live trap ASAP!