predator proof roost?

[rocketdoctor]

the other day the human door to our coop was left open all night. luckily nothing but a bad scare to us happened. When we went down to the coop all the chicken were gone but they had just started free ranging behind where we couldn't see them. I have all kinds of critters and have lost chickens to other animals so I was quite suprised to see them all safe.

My coop is quite tall and the roost is about 51/2 feet off the groud, I have another roost about 3 feet but they never use it. Is there anything I can do to make this roost racoon proof in the case a door was left open again? The coop is only 4 feet wide so I don't think the chickens can reach that taller roost without the 3 foot roost.

 

[elmo]

Racoons are excellent climbers. I watched one run straight up a 6 foot tall board fence like it was running on the ground. Raccoons can jump, too. Your best bet, I think, is to figure out how to make it less likely that you'll forget to close the door. An automatic door closer? A sign to remind yourself (this is what we have in our indoor bird room, a sign posted on the door to remind us not to open it while any of our birds are out of their cages).

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I agree with elmo. Fix the door so that you can't or won't forget to close it. I'm glad for you that a potentially devastating situation turned out O.K. I forgot to close one of the doors to my run one night and woke the next morning to find my birds walking around the yard and I was shaken up a bit until I determined that they were all safe. I haven't forgotten to close the door since.

 

[rocketdoctor]

thanks for the input!

We are usually good about asking each other if the human door is closed. Usually we don't have to open it since I have this nifty little contraption that closes and locks the run pop door from outside the coop. However that night we were leaving early and weren't going to be back later and were having a hell of a time getting the chickens in the coop. The run is actually in a different part of yard than coop, so I was throwing chickens in coop from run and my 9 year old daughter was trying to keep them in. soon as we get most in one or two would escape, it was very comical.

 

[teach1rusl]

A tight door spring will work wonders. I have them on my run gates, and it's very convenient... A few bucks at Lowes..
Oh...I just remembered that I have one on my coop door too...but it's on their loosely, so it wouldn't close the door all the way. Get a short one...

 

[PJCluck]

Someone here (or was it the Gail Damerow book) said to put a light in the coop with a timer - it goes on at dusk and stays on for an hour or so - that seems to draw the chickens into the coop. It works swimmingly for me. They are always in the coop when I am ready to shut the pop door.