Locking chickens in coop for the night, a neccessity if they have a run?

[yinzerchick]

I have 6 ft. chicken wire, buried a foot into the ground, layered with 4 ft welded wire around the out side of it, and 3 guard donkeys around the run area, and I still close up my chickens in the coops at night! lol!
When you cut a window in the coop, make sure you use hardware cloth and tack it down tight! A screen will get ripped out easily. We not only tacked it down on the inside, we framed it with 1x2's screwed over it.


Quote: DITTO to that MrsRodgers!!

 

[7L Farm]

Hot wire nothing likes to get shocked.

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

Hot wire is a good deterrent to some animals agreed. I currently have 17kV on my lines right now but its a pulse fence. seems to drive animals through it rather then deter them. Goats especially, and my fence hurts ( i know from experience there lol) BUT 7L that's still a deterrent not a final solution when the predator is already attacking or attack is eminent.

 

[SmittenChickens]

Hot wire isn't an option, too many roaming children in the neighborhood that I feel the parents of would not be happy if their kids got zapped.

I'll have to lock them up at night. Do you guys put food/water in the coop overnight?

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

Kids learn real fast not to touch hot wires We have horses so our entire property is lined with 6 hot wires and 4 barbed. I have feed constantly available in the coop and troughs outside. Water is only outside

 

[SmittenChickens]

Kids learn real fast not to touch hot wires We have horses so our entire property is lined with 6 hot wires and 4 barbed. I have feed constantly available in the coop and troughs outside. Water is only outside

Are the chickens OK to go all night with no water?

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

my chicken door stays open to the run all night so they can get water if they want it. I have an auto waterer bucket thats got a small fill hose added to it, which is in turn on a timer to insure they have water at all times. I think maybe once i saw a chicken go out to get a drink at night. the ducks sleep in the run and dont hardly touch the water over night.

 

[nuthatch]

The only predators around here are foxes, coyotes, racoons, dogs, cats, and birds of prey. No large predators like bears, thank goodness! We don't even really have snakes, it's been years since I saw a snake.

I'm sorry to say I've seen raccoons rip the chicken wire off my neighbors henhouse and rip the chickens apart. Raccoons are very strong and determined. We used hogwire on the open parts of the coop, and lock them in at night. You have to build a penitentiary before you can stop being concerned about that.

 

[KDK1]

Kids learn real fast not to touch hot wires We have horses so our entire property is lined with 6 hot wires and 4 barbed. I have feed constantly available in the coop and troughs outside. Water is only outside

They learn not to pee on them too!... OK, I was only six years old but to this day, 50yrs later, I have yet to pee on another one... lesson learned!

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

They learn not to pee on them too!... OK, I was only six years old but to this day, 50yrs later, I have yet to pee on another one... lesson learned!

ROFL!