outside

[hotdog]

Hi, I am a new chicken guy here. My question is when or can you leave then outside at night.. I have a coop with a hen door, can I leave it open at night? they are in a fenced in area with a top

 

[Cats Critters]

Only if you trust you run as predator proof....

 

[mediazeal]

Quote:
Is the run hardware cloth or chicken wire?
Can an animal with all night to work on it dig under the fencing?
is the cover a 'hard' cover with no holes for rats, weasels, etc. or poultry netting that will not keep out any predators? sometimes even owls.
are the locks on the doors into the coop easy to open or raccoon proof?

Putting them in the coop at night and locking it up with raccoon proof locks and no open doors sounds safer to me.
Unless the run is fort knox

good luck

 

[Lextextrapper]

Just remember that something is ALWAYS trying to get at your chickens...ALWAYS.

 

[speckledhen]

If you leave the door open at night, expect something to get in eventually. I'd never leave them out at night. Lock 'em up tight!

 

[Uppity Peon]

My neighbor lets his chickens put themselves to bed. His flock gets a little protection from a dog and 2 roosters. He has 6 feet of wire fencing, and he feels that having the entrances to the coops a couple feet off the ground (no ramps), and the roosts nice and high affords some protection. He does get some skunks, mainly they try to steal eggs. Skunks and raccoons are agile like cats. They can go under or over just about anything.

He says the main problems are hawks and cats. He has shelters around the yard so the chickens never have far to run whan a hawk is overhead. He also puts little mirrors on the roofs of some of the coops and he says this confuses or scares the hawks.

 

[CMV]

I vote lock 'em up at night. It's easier to maintain a predator proof coop than a run enclosure. You will constantly be fixing your enclosure where predators have been testing your defenses, and something will eventually get in...after all, they have all night to work at it.

 

[Uppity Peon]

Quote:
If you are going to operate like my neighbor you will lose some to predators. It's a matter of raising the stakes. The predators not only have to get by the fence, but hope the dog doesn't become aware of them. I have heard that dog start barking in the night, and perhaps it was awakened by something trying to dig under the fence.

He does not have a fortune invested in the flock. They are your basic mixed bag of hatchery chickens.

 

[hotdog]

ok everyone thanks for you input sounds like I need to keep locking them in at night

 

[hotdog]

Also, can they run free during the day?