secure hutch as well?

[karens123]

Please bear with my obvious questions, as I am learning. And with reluctance honestly. So we have the coop/hutch inside the fenced and locked run. But I also lock them in their coop/hutch at night. I know my run isn't good enough. Needs hardware cloth burried, etc. But if the run was secure enough is it always necessary to lock them in the hutch as well? Like if we were gone overnight? We have had the 3 chickens for about 3 weeks now. No signs of predators yet. Dogs and cats ignoring them for the most part.

 

[sourland]

Better safe than sorry. Lock them up at night.

 

[mi chicken]

the more secure they are the better u will sleep

 

[PrincessTamTam]

I have a 12x10 coop, well insulted and 4 triple pane windows for our friged -45C winters. The run is 12x12x14 and the fencing is 1 inch welded square 16 gauge wire on all sides and ceiling.

Their little chicken hutch was cut out today so I moved the lock from the coop door to the run door. The hutch is open. There is no way a predator could get into the run, the fencing is buried seven inches deep all around and cemented in at all corners. Do I need a door on the hutch in the summer?

I do have a chicken (aka baby) monitor that is beside me while I sleep.

Just want some advice if there are other reasons besides predators that the hutch should be closed in the summer.
Also, I keep a water inside and outside, and their food outside. Is that okay?

Thank you for your advice/tips.