putting birds in coop at night

[sydney13]

im getting chickens soon and i was wondering if the run has a roof and is buried deep in the soil, can i leave the coop door open so the chickens can go in the run in the morning and not have to wait for me to let them in, or is it safest to just lock them in the coop?

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

that depends on alot of things. I do leave my pop door open at night otherwise the coop is locked. The run is buried 2 feet down so I dont worry about predators digging in The coop also has a wooden floor so nothing can dig under it either. I have seen claw marks and holes dug with something trying to get into the doors but so far everyone has been safe The coop has been there for 3 years. I live in a very wild area where we are adjacent to athe wildlife management area so I have to have secure coops especially at night.

 

[cobrien]

I leave the pop door to the coop open to a fairly secure run, but the run is admittedly less secure than the coop itself. The run has 1/2" hardware cloth and a 2' skirt all around. I have occasional raccoons come around but my dogs alert me to them and I let them out to chase them away. I am in the city in northern California so only have raccoons and opossums to worry about at night, no snakes, weasels or foxes. I have not had any losses to predators. If you can't lock the coop door and rely on a secure run, you might want to read as much as you can in the coop design section for some great advice. There are some automatic pop door closers you could consider, also.