To close the coop door or not?

[Ridgerunner]

It partly depends on where the food and water is and what time you let them out in the morning. A well-ventilated coop helps. Different people have different set-ups and different management methods. You just have to find what works for you.

With ducks I can understand not wanting water in the coop. They are messy with water and they need water in some depth so they can clean their nostrils? (I forget what you call it, but they need to regularly keep it cleaned).

 

[mossyroo]

It's true that from sundown to sunrise they aren't going to be looking for food and water (at least the chickens - I have no experience with ducks) but when that sun comes up they will be hungry and thirsty. A lot of people only feed what they can finish off a couple times a day so they aren't likely to starve if locked up a couple extra hours. Also if you leave food out all the time, you WILL attract rats and mice which just love nighttime snacks. They are almost impossible to keep out a run and cause all sorts of other problems.

Another thing to consider is that 7x7 coop is the recommended minimum for 11 average chickens. Again, I don't know how the ducks in the mix would affect that. It could get kind of crowded in there if they have to spend many daylight hours inside.