To close the coop door or not?

[RonP]

I personally also keep my coop door open 24/7.

My run is as secure as my coop.

You did not mention your run security.

 

[Ktribe808]

I have not seen and condensation at all in the pen or on the greenhouse film. It is at least 8 ft. high (maybe a bit more) and that gap between the building and the frame of the pen is enough that I can easily see the sky. I go in the pen at least twice a day to give them their greens and scratch/treats. The shed where their coop is located in an Amish-built shed where hubby keeps his beloved John Deer tractor, our canoe and gardening tools. There are two ventilation vents at either end near the ceiling. It has a loft which the loft floor forms the ceiling of their coop. It is a good-sized shed. I haven't seen ay condensation on any of the shed windows or the window we put in the coop area. Actually I haven't seen any signs of dampness at all and I am careful to remove droppings daily. I did some research before I got the chickens so I hope everything is alright!

 

[Ktribe808]

I had metal mesh ( don't know the proper name) installed all along the bottom of the shed where there was a slight gap between the shed floor and the ground. The pen has good fencing (I was cautioned NOT to use chicken wire) that goes several inches below the pen into the ground. An added bonus - my neighbor's job is to parole state prisons with dogs trained to search for contraband (sp?) and guess where their kennels are located? Directly across from my chickens' pen! Heck they raise a racket when I go near my chickens! So they have guard dogs I don't have to feed!

 

[Ktribe808]

Ah the coop door. The one great disappointment. As my hubby is NOT handy at all, I had a former student who does projects for me build the coop and pen and he did not understand what I wanted in terms of a coop door. So he sawed the shed door that leads to their pen so the bottom third opens. I mean it is a full size door with the lower third open. So it is not the traditional coop door I see on other coops and I have seriously contemplated getting another door just so I can get a proper pop door cut into it. It is one of the reasons why I wrapped the pen in greenhouse film.

 

[Ktribe808]

OMG - I just started reading about predators in the learning center and here I thought my security was pretty darn good. And that feeder in the outdoor pen will now be brought inside at night. I am a worrier by nature and and if wasn't 2 AM I would be out there right now!

 

[RonP]

Take a deep breath.

Everything you mentioned sounds good, especially that you have an open mind and are willing to search for information before it is too late.

 

[dizziebabe]

I had my chickens free range. However, I live in deep woods and when I had my chickens attacked I was devastated. They are my pets and I spoil them. So we built a huge coop and hen house for them. They are under deck with fencing in concrete. The coop is 20' by 10'. Then hen house is large as well. Perches inside and outside with multiple feeders and water bowls. Heated as well. They have a heat lamp that runs 5 to 6 hours a night. They lay 12 to 14 eggs a day. I have 13 hens.

 

[SizzleQueen]

Well, this is how my coop is set up and all the little windows we have to keep it nice and dry.. ALSO, you will notice how my coop is raised so wind will travel underneath the coop to dry out all droppings as well. I never have any problem with predators.. But that might be because we have goats walking around, dogs, cats, ect.
It might be a little hard to see but here I have one solid door, and one door covered in chicken wire. I leave the solid door hooked to a post during the day so wind flows through it and some sunshine makes it way in also..

Then below, I have doors where my chickens can come in and out of their coop when needed.. right now I have these shut because another one that you can't see is open, and these needed to be shut to block off my hens hoping in with my roo's.. (It's break time for the girls from their men, most of us women need that from time to time ) When they are all out, these come up which creates a really nice draft. There are latches outside these doors that I lock up at night when the girls go in to rest so NOTHING gets in.. They are raised because I had custom built boards that my hens just climb right up.. I did this because at night I can just lay the boards flat so nothing can get up there. I then have panels where (obviously they love to sit on, and will hop from one to another to get down on the ground.)


I never had snakes, rats, mice, cook, pos, or well.. anything in my coop!

 

[CopperStarFarm]

I always have this debate with myself at dusk.. To keep it open or closed? I tend to keep it open but this week I am a bit nervous with temps in the single digits and I am up on a mountain where it gets colder than what my "town average temperatures" record. I might have a night or two here where we finally do close just for the time it is dark. My peafowl may throw a fit. They always like to be outside!

 

[Ktribe808]

I am loving the pictures!

I took two pics of the pen with my cell phone right before the sun set.

The coop door leads into the pen. The greenhouse film is not stapled on BTW, it is attached with furring (???) strips and screws as it has a 4 year warranty and I figure the pieces will be already cut for the next cold season. I haven't moved the straw bales yet - I had them there to block the fall breezes until the greenhouse film got put up - do you think I should move them? I figured they add another layer of protection but I could easily be wrong. The bales are the old straw bales from the play yard of my cat sanctuary. Yep, I operate a cat sanctuary for feral cats that I TNR-ed back when we lived in the woods. They have their own two-story "Cat House" and fenced in play yard. All kitties are safely contained within the sanctuary grounds and most of them are seniors now. But that's another story.

If you look above the pen - you can see one of the shed's vents. There are two of those in the shed. That is about one third of the shed in the pic. There is also a gap between the roof of the pen and the building. Here is a pic from the other side where I go in an out of the pen. You can barely make out Delores standing on one of the outside branch perches.


As it is currently 15 degrees, I was so worried, I went out to convince myself my darlings are not suffering. I also went to retrieve their outside water. Well the pen is still noticeably warmer than outside (it was sunny today). I peeked in the coop and two were sleeping together in the one nesting box and poor Gisella was by herself in the other. The nesting boxes are stuffed with straw. Are they on the two nice wide perches? Nope! The lovely insulated area underneath their nesting boxes? Nope! They refuse to read the chicken book, at least that's what I tell folks. So far they look OK.