Would it be wise to start closing up my flock in the coop?

[PeaPod117]

We got a new coop today, it’s an enclosed thing with a fancy looking coop. I was scrolling through here and read that raccoons can open locks and even chew through wires. I might go out and shut them in the coop just to be safe, but I’m wondering if there’s any way to predator- proof the hutch? I’ve become very attached to my chickens and ducks and would be absolutely destroyed if I had to wake up to their corpses. Not only that but we can’t really afford to lose any more chickens, as tractor supply is closing up the Chick Days event and the remaining ones are selling fast..

 

[PeaPod117]

Also now that I think of it a fox or something could dig its way under the wiring...

 

[PattyNH]

Yes. Yes it would be good to lock up your chickens and ducks at night. Yes a predator could dig under the enclosure, unless you have a skirt (fencing buried along the outside of your coop bent to lay flat horizontal to the ground, and a hardware cloth bottom on your coop.make sure every crevice is covered with 1/4 inch hardware cloth. A weasel can firt though a 1 inch space, as can rats.. You need to mKe sure it is covered securely as well - raccoon, weass, fox... All these and more can climb. Plus don't forget about aerial predarora as welll.

 

[333113]

I agree with PattyNH. Lock them up at night, every night. The only reason you don't have trouble yet is that the predators don't know the chickens are there, yet. Once the predators find them, the open coop becomes their lunchbox.

There are daytime predators like foxes and hawks, but in my experience the night time predators do the most damage, because the chickens are asleep and won't move away from them.
I use welded wire caging with 1-inch by half-inch holes on all sides, including top and bottom. It's strong enough to keep a raccoon or bobcat from getting into the cage. I also make sure that the roost sleeping area is more than a foot from the wire walls, because a motivated young raccoon can reach right through the wire.
Mice can go through 1 by half-inch wire, but most chickens will chase and kill and sometimes even eat mice.

 

[The Dapper Duck]

Without even reading past the thread title, YES. Why risk it when you can just lock them up and sleep soundly?

 

[Callender Girl]

Owning chickens and ducks and trying to keep them safe from predators can easily make you wisely paranoid. Previous posters are offering good information; you need to do everything you can to protect your birds. Mine were safe in the same coop in the same location for years -- until they weren't.

One mink slipped in through a run that easily kept them safe from big predators, like the coyotes that surround us, but I forgot to close the coop door ONE night and ended up with three of my four hens dead.

I don't know if they really work or if it just makes me feel better, but I got Nite Guard solar lights that flash at night as another deterrent. The flashing allegedly makes one predator think it's the eyes of another predator, so they leave for easier pickings. Is that true? I don't know, but it helps me sleep better to think I've done everything (which includes massive purchases of hardware cloth and additional locks and latches as well).

When I got that fancy-looking coop in my avatar, which is built like a fortress, we added hardware cloth over the windows and under the metal grates the previous owner had installed.

Keep your babies safe!

 

[chkva]

I've never not locked mine up except one time when my chicken went to sleep in a spot I couldn't get her. I didn't even sleep all night thinking something would grab her. Every night around 8 all of them get shut in, the hens and the chicks.

Best predator protection we have are dogs, they have kept everything off our property. We use the neighbors free range hunting dogs as protection too. I've yet to see any creatures besides one opossum a few years ago but it was trying to come in my house door, not my coop.

 

[blackdog043]

[QUOTE="PeaPod117, post: 21283565, member: 537788"]We got a new coop today, it’s an enclosed thing with a fancy looking coop. I was scrolling through here and read that raccoons can open locks and even chew through wires. I might go out and shut them in the coop just to be safe, but I’m wondering if there’s any way to predator- proof the hutch?[/QUOTE]

Do you have a picture, it will be easier to give better advise?

 

[PeaPod117]

[QUOTE="PeaPod117, post: 21283565, member: 537788"]We got a new coop today, it’s an enclosed thing with a fancy looking coop. I was scrolling through here and read that raccoons can open locks and even chew through wires. I might go out and shut them in the coop just to be safe, but I’m wondering if there’s any way to predator- proof the hutch?

Do you have a picture, it will be easier to give better advise?[/QUOTE]
We started putting them inside the little house thing now

 

[PeaPod117]

Without even reading past the thread title, YES. Why risk it when you can just lock them up and sleep soundly?

If you had read past the title you would’ve also seen that I wanted advice for how to predator proof it better. If you have any it would be welcome