Hello backyard chicken family my name is Jason I'm new here my wife and I just moved to a house outside of town we are still legally in the city limits but we're a quarter mile from the actual town so we got permission from the town to have animals chicken couple horses a pig or two but all of them have to be contained so I build an 8x8 chicken coop and I'm going to build a 30 foot by 8 run behind it. The question that I have is if the run is completely contained should I lock the chickens in the coop at night
Hello, Jason, and welcome to BYC! Congrats to you and your wife on the recent move and your new adventure. The question as to whether or not to close the coop at night is one that comes up often and, at the end of the day, is one you have to decide for yourself. Closing the coop puts one more layer of security between your birds and potential predators during the vulnerable roosting hours. You don't *have* to close it - if you are completely secure in your assessment of the predator resistance of your run and/or okay with the potential for loss(es) that's your call to make. I have done both at different times in my years of keeping flocks - and, knock on wood, have not had an attack or loss under either scenario.
Greetings from Kansas, Jason, and ! Great to have you in our flock! I completely agree with Ol Grey Mare. I personally lock my birds up in their coop every night. Too much risk in my are with raccoons - they would have wiped me out long ago! Best of luck to you and thanks for joining BYC!
G’Day from down under Jason Welcome! Great advice from Ol Grey Mare. I have a low predator risk, just pampered pooches and fat, lazy puddy cats so with my secure run, I do not need to close the elevated coop door. However, if the predator risk was high, I definitely would be. You might want to also pop in and say hello on your local thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you ‘Find your State’s thread. I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun. If you would like to share pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out
