Is it necessary to close the coop door every night

[Alielsarosie]

Our coop is 4'x4' with a run of 8'x4'. The door to the coop is inside the run which has a tin roof, completely covered. We also used heavier hardware stuff not the poultry netting all the way around and buried it 12" down around the whole thing. The girls are up before I am usually and are lined up at the door to come out in the morning. Would it be okay to just leave the coop door open so they can exit when the sun comes up and not have to wait for me?
Second picture is totally unrelated to the coop question, but does this look like normal droppings? Gross I know but it was very watery so I wanted to check with the experts!

 

[BayBay Peepers]

I leave my coop door open to the run always. As long as it's predator proof I think it should be fine.

The poop does not look normal. Have you ever wormed them? Do you know who it's coming from/ any other symptoms?

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Beautiful coop by the way.

 

[thegreatwhite]

my coop doesnt even have a door so i think you'll be fine.

 

[LeiaLayers5]

I am no expert, but I know that there has been at least one time since we have had ours where we had to go overnight away and left the chickens with the coop door open and our coop is not as heavily fortified as yours. We are in process of installing an automatic door opener and that might be something to consider if you do not want them waiting on you in the morning. Ours are always so ready to be let out in the mornings as well.

 

[fasschicks]

Your coop looks like a Witchita-style coop/run. We have the same setup just in a larger version. We made sure that the run was completely predator proof. We don't ever close the pop door to the coop at night...even in the winter (unless it is 10-20 below). The girls can come and go from the coop to the run. We just made sure that nothing could get in (or out). When we wake up, we do let them out into a separate fenced area outside of the secured run so they can "free range" during the day. That "free range" area is not secure.

Sorry, don't know much about poo.

 

[kmpcfp]

We've left our pop-door open 24/7 for the past year without issue. The only difference with our run is we also buried 2x3" fence under the floor to keep out anything large that may figure out how to dig under the 12" buried 1/2" hardware cloth.

I would think it really depends on potential predators in your area though.

 

[Alielsarosie]

The poo came from our 15 week old California white. She seems normal. No other symptoms. I wasn't sure if maybe because it was hot she might have been drinking more water than usual.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

There is a chance that could be it. Keep a close eye on her.

Also, check out some of the threads that have ideas for food on hot days. Mine love things like watermelon, yogurt, apples, tomatoes,etc. Anything cold...even frozen makes them seem a bit better on hot days.

 

[Blooie]

I also leave my pop door open 24/7, 365 days of the year. Yep, that includes winter, which here in Northern Wyoming can get rather brutal. But they enter the coop via covered "tunnel" and that serves as a very effective wind block even as it lets fresh air into the coop from the run.

As for the poop, well, I can't help you, I'm sorry. It looks like she just went overboard on eating some greens, but you didn't say if what she's been eating so that's just an assumption on my part.