Would you leave your coop open at night?

[horsejody]

If you have one predator, you could easily have 20. What if your dogs spot a coon and go after it. While they are busy with it on the other side of the yard an opossum, or even another coon, could be going into the coop. It's not worth the risk. Close the coop. Why make the dogs' job harder?

 

[SandraChick]

Our rule is...if there is any chance we won't be home at dusk...the dog stays outside (our dog is indoor/outdoor)

That being said-- the dog gives us peace of mind so we don't freak out about having to get home. We've never had a loss while the dog was out.
He chases off racoons, skunks, and foxes....

That being said....We still lock them up. This also gives us the chance to make sure everyone is there (we count them everytime). For us, it's not just about locking the door; it's about checking to make sure the waterer didn't get tipped over (or got full of shavings), it's to make sure they're all acounted for (we have a couple that like to try and sleep in the trees or the other shed sometimes) etc.

So...I'm like most who have posted. Lock them up anyway---but if your wife doesn't think she needs to...just do it yourself--also--know that your dog is on duty, so don't ruin your whole evening out over locking the door!

in short---cautiously chill out!

Sandra

 

[Tapestry]

I live in the city , we do have turkey vultures that fly overhead, and even real wild turkeys have landed in the yard.

We have the normal dogs and just a few cats one or two but they both live indoors at night..
Our chickens are in an enclosed, chicken tractor) top, bottom and sides are hardwiredwith or wood with metal vents(we used heater vents) .. they
have roosts inside and out.. we have double locks on the large door we go through to add food and water , we have venilation on 3 sides, the egg boxes have a lock.

Its August and we have left the door open all night the last few weeks. Not sure who could or what could enter the coop.
The ground is like cement, we have no moles or raccoons in our area.
The chickens are getting larger, there is 4 of them, they are a very tight knit group, if our maltese puts her nose near the wire she gets a warning peck
on the nose but they dont' seem to mind one another.

So right now its too hot to coop them up, in the winter I might close the door just to keep them warm.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

We have never had a predator attack (other than pesky neighborhood cats) in the 4-1/2 years we have lived here. But i am religious about locking them in at night. If i know we will be out after dark, i hire our pet sitter to come and close everyone in. Happy to pay the extra money so i can have peace of mind.

 

[SillyCityGirl]

Socialize, socialize and socialize them some more. When you are totally sick of socializing them keep at it. That whole myth that if your dog is bonded with humans they will not protect livestock is just that in my opinion and experience. The more socialized your dog is, the better equipped they are to make decisions. Just make sure that puppy goes with you about your routine when you are caring for your birds and or other livestock. Yes young pups will want to "play" inappropriately with them, that is when you nip it in the bud. The first LGD is usually the hardest because they don't have an older dog to learn from.

As far as using LGD's to protect livestock and locking the birds up at night I learned a very valuable lesson last week. I have had chickens for well over a year now and never had any predator losses except from a 2 legged and the dogs weren't outside when that happened. I have a secure coop with an attached run that has buried wire, hot wire and hawk proof avian netting over the top. I frequently have coyotes around and a 5 pack of big noisy barking dogs. I hadn't locked the chickens in at night in over a year. Last week we had a thunderstorm where the sky opened up for about 2.5 to 3 hours, starting at dusk, during which I let ALL the dogs come inside. It was also during that lapse in security that a massacre occurred. It has been determined that a mama bobcat got on top of the outside run ripped through the avian netting and proceeded to use my birds as training tools for her babies. I lost 21 out of 36 birds. I found carcasses and body parts of 19 of my birds. I found blood on the spurs of my Jersey Giant roo, he also had fur grasped in his feet. (I miss him deeply, thankfully my best broody hens made it) My dogs were on edge and immediately sounding the alarm when I let them out after the rain stopped. I didn't hear anything from the coop which is about 30 yards outside my back door.

The lesson that I learned was two part, 1) The birds ALWAYS get locked up at night, 2) The working dogs do not get time off due to rain.

 

[Tapestry]

So what state are you that you have coyotes'?
If a coyote could rip through all that metal I don't think wood would have stopped her either
Our door is wood with a lock but any determined large animal can break through if you are in the country or near a forrested area.
We never have storms like that either.
Our dogs are just alarms they wouldn't protect anything not even us.. they are under 15lbs.
I wonder if this is a rural issue more than a city one?

 

[CAjerseychick]

Socialize, socialize and socialize them some more. When you are totally sick of socializing them keep at it. That whole myth that if your dog is bonded with humans they will not protect livestock is just that in my opinion and experience. The more socialized your dog is, the better equipped they are to make decisions. Just make sure that puppy goes with you about your routine when you are caring for your birds and or other livestock. Yes young pups will want to "play" inappropriately with them, that is when you nip it in the bud. The first LGD is usually the hardest because they don't have an older dog to learn from.

As far as using LGD's to protect livestock and locking the birds up at night I learned a very valuable lesson last week. I have had chickens for well over a year now and never had any predator losses except from a 2 legged and the dogs weren't outside when that happened. I have a secure coop with an attached run that has buried wire, hot wire and hawk proof avian netting over the top. I frequently have coyotes around and a 5 pack of big noisy barking dogs. I hadn't locked the chickens in at night in over a year. Last week we had a thunderstorm where the sky opened up for about 2.5 to 3 hours, starting at dusk, during which I let ALL the dogs come inside. It was also during that lapse in security that a massacre occurred. It has been determined that a mama bobcat got on top of the outside run ripped through the avian netting and proceeded to use my birds as training tools for her babies. I lost 21 out of 36 birds. I found carcasses and body parts of 19 of my birds. I found blood on the spurs of my Jersey Giant roo, he also had fur grasped in his feet. (I miss him deeply, thankfully my best broody hens made it) My dogs were on edge and immediately sounding the alarm when I let them out after the rain stopped. I didn't hear anything from the coop which is about 30 yards outside my back door.

The lesson that I learned was two part, 1) The birds ALWAYS get locked up at night, 2) The working dogs do not get time off due to rain.

O poor Roo.... and poor birds... I am so sorry for Your loss...Its just so hard when that ONE TIME lapse is the one that counts....
And so hard to communicate that to the rest of my family (DH and daughter are the ones who are to lock up the 3 nights a week I am gone....And they have "forgotten" or assumed the other person had done it once already...)....
Similarly we went into Town-- a quick run for groceries... and chained up the dogs (one tends to try to get out of our fencing when I am not home-- specifically, me.) and when we got back, all the chickens were inside the coop (it was about 2pm)they usually are scratching in the lawn or at least nesting under the porch in the shade so I knew something was seriously wrong...SO I know now to leave at least one dog loose while we are gone.... and I guess it is a matter of time....

 

[CAjerseychick]

So what state are you that you have coyotes'?
If a coyote could rip through all that metal I don't think wood would have stopped her either
Our door is wood with a lock but any determined large animal can break through if you are in the country or near a forrested area.
We never have storms like that either.
Our dogs are just alarms they wouldn't protect anything not even us.. they are under 15lbs.
I wonder if this is a rural issue more than a city one?

Nope, I commute between the Sierras and San Francisco-- and have run into coyotes in middle of GoldenGate Park while out walking my dogs with my daughter in the middle of the Day (and the child was gleefully waving around a roasted pigs foot we bought in China Town-- they sell whole roast pigs and my daughter was fascinated by the foot, so they sold us a foot!)

 

[janinepeters]

Would always lock up the coop, dogs or no dogs. Why tempt fate, when locking up is so simple?

 

[7L Farm]

Predators mainly come out at night. The whole purpose of having a coop is for protection for the birds while they roost at night. The birds can't see at night. A coop also protects the birds from bad weather such as rain, cold, & keeps the wind off the birds. Personally, I would feel terrible if they got killed because I didn't lock them up every night.