House in enclosed run - who doesn't shut coop door at night

[CedarLake]

My coop is enclosed by a run fenced with chicken wire and for the longest time, I kept both doors open. Our German Shepherd used to roam all over the place and I think that's why we were predator free for so long. Now he pretty much stays near the house :-( Never had a night time predator, but the girls (and rooster) eventually figured out that they could just fly over the 4' fence then I lost all 5 of my hens over a few months to an unknown daytime predator. My guess is a fox hidden in the tall grass on the back of our property since they roamed all over the place. I've never seen a raccoon around here and the coyotes don't come out in daytime. Could have been bald eagles, but I haven't seen any in a while. I think redtail hawks are too small to take out my large hens.

Anyway, now I have some pullets about 5 months old and I lock them up at night. I'm going to let them free range when they're older, but I will definitely keep the grass short.

There's a bison farm I go by on my way to work and they have chickens and turkeys roaming all over the place. This afternoon four hens were bug hunting in the grass along the highway! Wonder if they ever lose any to cars.

 

[downstownlady]

I wish my chickens could free range, but this is a predatory oasis...and they must be kept inside the run...but it is 16' x 18' (ish) and there are only 11 of them...so I think it isn't too horrible as they get a variety of treats I give to them daily...they are starting to resemble broilers instead of layers!!!

 

[pw30]

I had a fox problem early summer. It was like Coyote and the Road Runner because I kept getting hurt trying to get the fox. The fox had a skin disease and was basically staving to death. I tried to shoot it with a shot gun with a scope. I almost shot my eye out. My husband finally shot it and put it out of it's misery. I lost 9 hens to him. It's been pretty quiet since.

 

[PhilErvin]

I shut the door to the run but not the coop. That way they are able to come out in the morning and eat and drink and walk around until I let them out for the day. When I'm gone a few days I don't worry about them, they seem content to stay in the run all day when they must.

 

[jackson41]

I never close my pop door unless it is very cold. My run is covered in 14 gauge 1/2 by 1" welded cage wire with a 24" skirt around the perimeter. I have never had a problem.

Sort of a closeup of the wire..

 

[saltdean norm]

well, i just thought i'd update this post. I was away from friday morning to sunday afternoon and they were fine. no signs that a fox had try to dig in. i'll probably still close the door each night that i'm here but i'm happy that they are safe (touch wood) for a few nights.
thanks for all sharing your experiences with me.
Norm

 

[Chickenaddict]

My chickens free range during the day so the coop door and pop door as well as the chain link dog kennel run door are always wide open. At night I have to lock them up because of predators like bear, possums, coons, fox, ect. A few weeks ago a 3 month old pullet missed lock up time and spent the night under our deck, amazingly still alive and scared to death the next morning.

 

[kla37]

We don't close up the coop. It's all enclosed in 1/2 " hardware cloth, including the entire base which is about 2 feet in the ground. I just wanted them to go in and out whenever they want and not have to think about letting them out and locking them up at night. They have a ladder up into it, and the coop doors and the run door have padlocks on the latches, so I'm not too worried about much.

 

[kla37]

Quote:
That is so beautiful and charming I can't stand it!

LOVE your landscaping too!

 

[crazeetxn]

Probably should, but don't. It's enclosed and I don't worry about anything coming out. I have four alarms (dogs

) outside that let me know if something's not right and will take care of anything that doesn't belong there.