Should I close my coop at night?

[HoogiesHens67]

I have six pullets and a cockerel who are 10 weeks old.....it’s really warm and stuffy here in S.C. tonight. I have been closing the little door from their coop to the run every night for safety. With the hot weather, is it okay to leave the little door open? Or should I close it? Our run is very safe but it really hasn’t been tested yet so I Would hate to leave them vulnerable! Advice to the newbie....

 

[lazy gardener]

More info about your run? If it is solidly built, has 1/2" hardware cloth on all sides and top, as well as a skirt, if it is covered so the birds won't get wet if it rains, if the door closures are secure enough that a 2 year old child could not figure out how to open the doors, then they should be ok without the coop door shut.

More importantly, how much ventilation is there in your coop? There should be at least 7 s.f. of ventilation, or an area = to 10% of floor space, which ever number is greater. Your birds should also have a minimum of 4 s.f. of open floor space per bird in the coop.

 

[Doc7]

It depends.

Is your run predator proof? If not then your coop isn’t.

My run and coop are 100 percent predator proof as a contained unit and will have no door even installed on the coop when my chicks are about 5 weeks old and know to enter the coop nightly. Photos attached.

You may wish to consider the same so that you can save yourself a couple trips a day to open and close a door.

 

[cmom]

Do you have any pictures? I don't close my pop doors in my coops but my pens are covered and I have electric around all of the pens and coops. I have cement under all of the gates. I haven't had a breach in years.

 

[IamRainey]

1. My coop opens to the run. The run has 1/4" hardware cloth 360˚ around, over the top and buried 12" into the ground. I don't even have a pop door because the run is secure.

The girls come and go as they wish but I don't think they've ever ventured out once the sun goes down.

[PS No idea why that formatted so weirdly...]

 

[Folly's place]

If your run is predator proof, leave the door open all the time.
Your coop shouldn't ever be 'stuffy' with the door closed. If it's not well ventilated, that's an issue that needs to be fixed.
Pictures?
Mary

 

[cmom]

Two of my coops are open on one side. An owl got in and killed several birds and a fox dug under a gate and killed some birds, the pens got covered and cement put under the gates. The electric has been up for a long time. I have heard critters when they have touched the wire. It has made my heart skip a few beats.

The electric wire that goes around the coops and pens.

We added another coop on the end.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

It is stuffy at night where we live also. Even with good ventilation in the coop, it is warm in there. I leave our door to the run open at night. When it gets cooler, I won't. Our run has a hardware cloth skirt around it, and I put a couple inches of dirt over the top of that, mostly for aesthetics, since I planted nasturtium around it. I put those carabiner clips on any door clasps that I felt could possibly be breached by a raccoon. We live in Virginia, in a rural area, and I haven't had any issues yet.

 

[HarleyJane22]

When it’s warm here, I leave the door open a little just for added air flow. My door is electric so I can raise/lower it as much as I want. My coop/run are predator proof but it still makes me nervous to leave it open all the way at night.

 

[IamRainey]

How about drilling some more ventilation holes? A hole-cutting drill bit would do the job and isn't expensive. What you want is numerous openings so the air can flow through.

Here's a pic of mine with windows on 3 sides, ventilation holes on 2 sides and the door open between the coop and the run. Can't have too much air flow. Keeps odors down and probably respiratory disease as well.