Leave out or leave in?

[rosemarythyme]

I agree with the auto door suggestions. My chickens would technically be okay for about 4 days without anyone needing to drop by - there's enough food and water and the door lets them in and out. Granted I'd still ask a neighbor or relative to check in on them but I'd want to know that they were as self sufficient as possible just in case for any reason, the caretaker didn't do as asked.

 

[aart]

Still need someone to make sure they all made it inside.

Exactly! I trust auto-doors about as much as sitters.

We just got back from a few days away from home to realize that our chicken sitter did not let the birds out of their coop this morning. It's mid 80s here and the coop is made of metal so a few of the girls had their mouths open by the time we discovered it.

Do you have plenty of ventilation in your coop? That can help. Pics of your coop and run, inside and out, would help us make suggestions for improvements.

Oh, and...Welcome to BYC! @la79al
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
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[Cindy in PA]

I used to leave the door open for a few days when I went away & never had a problem. My run is not Ft. Knox & I knew what could happen. I now have an auto door & have never had a problem. It is all about your risk tolerance. I check that the chickens are in every night when I am home. Either way you could go years without a problem or have one the first night you go away. They are your chickens, so it is up to you.

 

[Callender Girl]

Paranoia is a crucial part of chicken-keeping for me. Nothing is ever secure enough and no one will take care of my babies as well as I do. Right now, we are having unseasonably warm weather here, and despite running fans and keeping waterers filled, I am constantly concerned about daytime temps killing my birds, which has never happened. I am more worried about predators killing my birds, which has happened.

I would fortify everything, consider the auto-door and the camera, look for more responsible sitters -- and still worry! Welcome to BYC, where people understand when you freak out over the lives of birds.

 

[Col1948]

I've thought of an auto-door, my chickens go in the coop themselves, there is one who always is last, she hangs about outside goes to the door then turns back, this goes on for a about 20 minutes then eventually she goes in, then I lock them in.

The auto-door in the morning would be no problem but it is the night time I would be worried she was left outside, I could set it to close later I suppose because there has been the odd time I have been busy and left it late to close up and they are all in.

The reason I've thought of one is I get up at 5.30 to let them out because it is light here now at 4.30ish and I'm falling asleep later in the day.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The reason I've thought of one is I get up at 5.30 to let them out because it is light here now at 4.30ish and I'm falling asleep later in the day.

Yeah I'm not getting up at 5:30 (or 4:30) to let chickens out. I get up at 8... or 8:30... or 9:00. And when I step outside the auto door already let the chickens out, so they can stare accusingly at me for not being quicker with their breakfast.

 

[Col1948]

I looked at the auto-doors on Ebay and I didn't realise they were that expensive, I saw a few home made ones on YouTube but I know if I attempted to do one it would end up in the bin and I would have wasted my money lol.

 

[Col1948]

I just found an auto-door that is a reasonable price so I ordered it, I'll have to get up early in the mornings to make sure it works lol.