Pop door open 24/7.

[Bear1978]

@Ridgerunner oh and yes, my apron is overlapped on the corners and fastened down with 12in U-shaped landscape spikes with them placed about 6-8in apart.

 

[Mrs. K]

Very nice, good luck

 

[Bear1978]

Very nice, good luck

Thank you!!

 

[rosemarythyme]

So this is just me... (and I know I do NOT have a fully secure run) reason I wouldn't leave it open is because dogs and larger predators can breech hardware cloth. It's not terribly common but it's just an extra risk to consider.

 

[CatsandCrops]

We also have a fully secured run (HWC everywhere, plus buried 18 inches deep around the entire run) but we still close the door nightly. Its more about peace of mind for me; we have multiple large predators in our area so the "double protection" of a closed door makes things seem a bit better.

 

[Bear1978]

Thank you both! And yes. Closing it at night for me is mostly for peace of mind at this point.

 

[Folly's place]

If bears are possible, add electric fencing, because a bear can tear through your coop too.
For big dogs, adding 2"x 4" woven wire around the lower 4' of the run will be added protection.
Here we don't yet have bears, so large dogs were the biggest critters we were concerned about. Our run has hardware cloth covered in that woven wire, stapled with fencing staples, and then 1"x 4" boards screwed in over the top. And repurposed home exterior doors.
Your coop and run look really nice!
Mary

 

[Bear1978]

If bears are possible, add electric fencing, because a bear can tear through your coop too.
For big dogs, adding 2"x 4" woven wire around the lower 4' of the run will be added protection.
Here we don't yet have bears, so large dogs were the biggest critters we were concerned about. Our run has hardware cloth covered in that woven wire, stapled with fencing staples, and then 1"x 4" boards screwed in over the top. And repurposed home exterior doors.
Your coop and run look really nice!
Mary

Thank you!

I mean we DO have bears here in the area where we live: rural north central Arkansas.. BUT, NOT right exactly in my vecinity as there’s too many other houses around here and too much near by highway traffic for them to wander through my yard. If there was ever a bear in the neighborhood I’d heard about it by now. As it’s mainly elderly and retired folk living and and word travels fast! Lol!

We get an occasional stray dog that meanders through my yard. But that’s mainly during the day that I’ve seen those and it’s been someone’s dog who escaped or that they let out as there’s no leash law where I live. But those have been few and far between. And I work from home and regularly check up on them. So my main concern is foxes, coyotes and coons. An occasional dog but those are less common than the afore mentioned critters.

 

[Folly's place]

When dogs arrive, it can be bad in a hurry!
I am paranoid about it all, and so that's why the woven wire addition. Anything is better than nothing, true.
My current dogs, rescue terriers, are not safe with the chickens, but very well fenced away from them. Until the day that the fencing failed, and in one hour, one of the dogs got out and killed 21 free ranging birds!!! It was horrible, and not her fault, never trained to leave them alone, and had a wonderful time at it.
Fencing issues all fixed, but never forgotten.
Mary

 

[MGG]

I'm just now seeing this, so sorry! Thanks for the tag though. I would say it's fine, you have an awesome set up. And if the birds go in on their own at night that's even better. I leave the pop doors open in my pens 24-7 in the summer and fall. Nothing has ever gotten in. All of my predator deaths occurred while free-ranging and when a dog decided to tear into a poorly made prefab coop. The birds were shut in the coop, but it still got in.
If you feel safe leaving the pop door open I'd say that's totally fine. I would if it were my setup. In the winter you might want to close them up at night though, predators can get desperate when it's cold.