Locking up at night? Do you or dont you? (Newbie needs to know)

[calicokat]

Absolutely, lock 'em up if you can.

Mine go in about dusk to roost & I come out in the next hour or so and "tuck them in", headcount, etc.

We had one rooster in "Time out" in a dog crate in the "secure" run overnight. I thought, heck, he's locked in a crate that needs the handle turned to open, PLUS he's closed inside the run - all's good. Nope. Mr. Racoon slid between where two feet of chicken wire overlap all around the middle of the run - opened the crate, and TOOK the rooster. Not sure if you can see the overlap in this pix or not - the bottom row of wire, overlaps the top row, and it goes all around the run.

Now even time outers get their crate put into the coop at night. No exceptions. I've spent more than a few hours tracking down a silly polish hen that wandered off (can't see well, and her sister will get lost - realize it - and sit still waiting for mom to rescue her. This one just keeps on walkin'!) just because I wanted them all locked up before I went to bed.

 

[Saroco]

Lock 'em up! Better to be safe then sorry... But, If your coop is absolutly air tight, mold will grow. (I know from experiance.) So if possible, Leave some kind of opening at each side of the coop so air can circulate.

 

[gsim]

Quote:
I lock down mine every eve at dusk. Even tho I have a 6 ft welded wire fence set in cement and a fence-charger, I still worry about a power outage or the fence charger conking out during the night. Hate to walk in to the scene of a slaughter because of my laziness.

Gerry

 

[The Chicken Lady]

I lock them up every night. Although we have a strong, secure run, it's not worth the risk of losing them.