Roosting Area

[inogsus]

I am beating my brains out not knowing what my chickens like at night. Right now I have a wired pvc enclosure covered with a tarp so it is totally enclosed. Wind does manage to get in for ventilation.. I want to build an A-frame coop for the night (chicks roam my whole yard during the day) and don't know if I can have areas that are totally open at the ends, partially open or almost totally open. Are the chickens afraid if they can sense it isn't totally covered? What I am saying is, "Can I leave areas exposed to the night, covered by chicken wire and have happy chickens?"

 

[CurlyQuail]

I suppose theoretically you could have areas that are open, only covered by chicken wire but I wouldn’t recommend it for a night time situation. I’m not sure where you’re located, but predators at night are generally a pretty big concern and many of them can get through chicken wire. If you’d like to leave areas mostly “open,” I’d recommend hardware cloth.

 

[inogsus]

Thanks. If a predator ever shows up in my neighborhood it would be rare, but I do need to have the mindset of what-if. I will do that. Do you think the chickens are aware and stressed if it is open (meaning hardware cloth and not wood)? Just don't want them to be comfortable.

 

[CurlyQuail]

Thanks. If a predator ever shows up in my neighborhood it would be rare, but I do need to have the mindset of what-if. I will do that. Do you think the chickens are aware and stressed if it is open (meaning hardware cloth and not wood)? Just don't want them to be comfortable.

Mine have always been fine, maybe a small ruckus if there’s a coyote in the yard and they can see it through the HC

 

[aart]

Wind does manage to get in for ventilation

Really? Got pics?

I want to build an A-frame coop for the night

A-frames are notoriously hard to weatherproof and leave adequate ventilation.
That also can end up being too small.

 

[eaking]

We have two cameras outside. One in the roost and one in the run. I know where they are and what's happening all the time. It was especially helpful when fireworks were going off all the time around here and I worried about the girls freaking out (turns out they were less anxious than I was). We got the cameras on Amazon for - I think - $60 a pop? Not much to pay for peace of mind.

And I second the recommendation for hardware cloth (and not chicken wire). Our run is surrounded by it and the girls feel safe when they're inside but, essentially, exposed. That said, if they get freaked out, they run up to the coop / roost / nesting boxes.