Pop door in coop

[Mrs. Hones hens]

We are getting ready to build our first coop. We have the size and design figured out, thanks to all the info on this site. My question is about locking the hens up at night. Our coop will be indoor and outdoor. Do they need to be locked up at night in the inside part of the coop? We think we will probably have some predators and are building the whole coop accordingly. Does the pop door need to be closed every night? We don't want to be stuck and never get to leave town.

 

[mmtillman]

 

[CityClucks]

Will they have access through the pop door to an enclosed predator-proof run? If so, I don't know why you'd need to close the pop door every night.

Welcome!

 

[Superior Chicks]

Personally, we close the pop hole every night after the girls march in.

I think of it as their inner sanctum. Extra protection. Extra security. Home quarters. They seem to know this.

I wouldn't trust leaving them out in their run. Why show the fox what could be for dinner?

If you've got the hole, I would close it. Part of my nightly chores, and, morning fun in seeing how happy the girls are to see me and get out!

My 2 cents

Ma

 

[Reinbeau]

Mrs. Hones hens :

We are getting ready to build our first coop. We have the size and design figured out, thanks to all the info on this site. My question is about locking the hens up at night. Our coop will be indoor and outdoor. Do they need to be locked up at night in the inside part of the coop? We think we will probably have some predators and are building the whole coop accordingly. Does the pop door need to be closed every night? We don't want to be stuck and never get to leave town.

First of all,

As for never being able to leave town, if you've got chickens, you can't, unless you've got someone to look in on them. They need tending pretty much every day, I've gone off for one complete day, but I still run right in there and check things out just before leaving and then immediately upon return. You never know what kind of devilment they might get into!

I have a predator proof run but I still close the pop door every night, or have someone else do it. I just don't want to take the chance that a bigger, badder predator gets the better of that run while I'm away.

We go to Maine every other weekend or so and my son checks on them for us. When we go away for longer, say a week I make other arrangements (SIL comes over twice a day, she loves the chooks, used to raise them in the Philippines).​

 

[Superior Chicks]

I couldn't agree more Reinbeau..............."what kind of devilment they might get into!"

And the way they cock their heads and look up at you as if to say..."What?" Ha Ha Ha!

I also agree about our "predator proof" runs. There's always the chance of a bigger badder something! Although ours is built like Fort Knox, if there is one thing I have learned in my life is that you never say never!

Yes, chickens do require daily chores. But a labor of love it is for me.

Ma

 

[My chicken is cuter]

I don't even lock my hens in at night. I don't live in a really woodsy area, so there aren't as many predators. But a very close friend of mine lives waaaaaaay out in the country, and she doesn't lock hers in. If predators aren't a problem you can leave them for the weekend. Also there is some kind of automatic chicken door, that goes of by a timer.

 

[Lollipop]

You only have to be hit once to change your mind about security. Nothing is predator proof and predators travel around. If you haven`t had problems, you will. Everyone who keeps chickens needs a gun and a trap. No exceptions!. That said, lock them up at night or have someone do it. It`s never a matter of "if", only a matter of"when.

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

I tend to think that it may be wise to close them up at night, I will when I get mine!

 

[patandchickens]

The thing about predators is you don't have any problem with them until, you know, one day you DO. At which point suddenly it is a much EXTRA problem b/c now they know where the buffet is, and will try *much* harder to get in, as will all other predators in the vicinity who get a whiff of the other predator's having had chicken dinner.

So I would argue that it is easier to prevent a problem in the first place, than to try to deal with things once you start losing birds.

I always shut mine into the coop at dusk, despite runs that *ought* to be pretty totally predator-proof (except vs weasels, which it is really hard to guarantee you're protected against, ditto with rats which we don't have).

When you are away, you will need someone to come daily to check feed/water (things can get knocked over...) and collect eggs (you don't want the hens learning that eggs are tasty because that is a terrible hard habit to break...); so if you can just get them to come *twice* a day, or get a neighbor to do one of the times, you are all set. Worst comes to worst you could either leave them locked inside or leave the popdoor open when you are away, depending on circumstances.

You could look into buying (www.foyspigeonsupplies.com) or making (see Nifty's "Auto Coop Door Opener" thread here on this forum) your own automatic opener/closer for the popdoor... but of course that will not guarantee that chickens are necessarily on the right *side* of the door when it closes.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat