Do you always close the chicken house door at night and open it in the morning?

[peggy0062]

Do I have to lock the chickens in the house at night or can I leave the door open? If I have a fox proof run attached to the chicken house then I don't have to, do I?

We've had ladies for a year, rural area, fox proof (ie dug in 3 ft and over the top run). Just leave 'em to do their thing, no fewer than 3 eggs/day since august even in the snoooow. Great ladies. We worked so hard to make it fox proof, if one gets in there, it would deserve a blimmin good meal!!

Yes when we are there. We have a (so far!) fox proof run - 6 foot fencing, buried in the ground - but every run is fox proof until one day . . . it isn't.

I also prefer to shut the coop door overnight for warmth, I wouldn't want a cold draught while sleeping, don't suppose the chickens do either.

Having said that we do leave them without the door shut if we go away for a long weekend, someone comes round in the day to check on them (and they have automatic feeder/waterer), but it means they don't have to come morning/evening.

I just saw this thread had popped up again, a few minutes ago I went to lock up properly and realised I'd left one of the three doors on the guinea pig hutch wide open

I guess a fox would have been straight in there, poor wee mites. They were both safe, thank Goodness. But it was a near miss.

The electric chicken doors are great (though a tad expensive). They open when it's light and close when it's dark, though you can set a timer if you would prefer so they don't wake up at 4am in the summer!

I recommend the electric pophole too. It wasn't massively expensive andit means I can leave them overnight occasionally.

We will never leave the coop open again overnight. Have fence round garden, albeit with big holes, chickens in pen at mo due to building work. Husb forgot to close coop on Tues night (about the third time in nine months we've forgotten to do this). Heard a terrible hullabaloo at about 2.30am and rushed downstairs to catch fox stuck in our fence. Four out of five hens gone. Heartbreaking, especially telling the children. Miss them so much, and can't wait to get new ones but the b fox has come back at exactly the same time for the last couple of nights- dog has started barking and I've heard movement the other side of fence. Thank goodness lovely builder has taken remaining chicken to be rehabilitated with his birds. RIP Biddy, Peppa, Esme and Cara xx

Try as hard as i might i cannot be reasonable when it comes to foxes. End of the food chain they kill for fun in a frenzy. we once lost 43 - yes fourty and three - in one night when we forgot to close them up after a night out. DH had the vile job of cleaning up and we had to tell the children. If i bought an electric door i would be out there every night anyway just checking it had worked as i don't trust them not to glitch and go wrong just when you don't want them too.Currently also having a battle with crows taking eggs but they only do one at a time and take it off and eat it not just kill it and leave it.

I forgot once and lost all the hens.

is it okay for my chickens to eat lamb and rice flavored dog food?