Shut them in at night?

[TalkALittle]

I will admit that my idea of "secure" has changed drastically from when I first built my coop and run. Is your coop surrounded by a hardware cloth apron to prevent digging predators? If there is a way into the run predators will find it. Once inside the run, an open pop door is practically an invitation to chicken dinner. If you have any doubts about the security of your run then continue to close the door at night. Perhaps post a photo of your coop and others can offer their opinions and suggestions as to the level of security it offers.

 

[Dreysander]

Our coop is off the ground. We couldn't dig down to put a hardware cloth apron because our ground is slate covered by a thin layer of topsoil, so the run has hardware cloth underneath the 4x4's that are staked into the ground with big spikes. The hardware cloth is completely covering under the run, then it's covered by gravel which is in turn covered by topsoil.

Here's a pic of the coop

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

*I* wouldn't hesitate to leave the pop door on a setup like that - but I am not all "Ft Knox" to begin with, so take that for what you will I suppose

Ultimately, it boils down to what you feel comfortable doing.

 

[TalkALittle]

From your description and the photo it looks quite secure. My only thought is to make sure the people door can't be pushed or pulled open. Also watch that your birds don't decide to roost in the pen at night. Birds can get close enough to the sides of the pen to be grabbed and ripped through hardware cloth.

 

[RonP]

My run is as secure, possibly more secure, than my coop.

A predator would have more issues with the metal fencing than the wood coop...

That said, coop door is open 24/7/365.

 

[Blooie]

My pop door is open 24/7, 365 days a year. The run is as secure as humanly possible. I often say that I don't think there's such a thing as a predator proof setup - the minute I put all my faith in "stuff", it's easy to become complacent and that's when a critter is going to find a loose spot I didn't see and repair immediately. I firmly believe that the best hardware can't top diligence.

Our run is attached to the coop via a "tunnel" because we had to offset it. Otherwise Ken would have had to cut down his apricot tree and that wasn't happening! So we built a sort of box. One open end leads to the coop, the other to the run, and the outside two sides and the top are solid. Works well to cut drafts into the coop so I can leave the door open all of the time, and it's got a hardware cloth skirt as well. So we did the best predator prevention we could. I'm just too lazy to get up with the chickens!