Solitary chicken - need advice

[blackgold]

When is it warm enough to leave the pop hole open at night? My walkin run is fox proof , it is a metal dog run ,and I would like to start leaving their door open into their eglu so they can get up when they want too. I plan on leaving their glug full of water and grub with boring pellets in for breakfast and give them their treats etc when I get up. I don’t want to attract vermin into the yard. They were screaming to be let out this morning at first light…….. Sue xxx

[Olly]

I leave it open all year round! Opinions vary on this, the main issue being that the Eglu/Cube is foxproof with the door closed but the run isn't 100% foxproof, so if you leave it open you are taking a risk.

 

In my view the risk is so minimal that it is outweighed by the convenience of not having to dash up the garden in my nightie, but it's a personal thing. I only close it if VERY cold temperatures are forecast - it was closed about four times this winter. They snuggle up together and really don't seem bothered by the cold. If you are confident that your run is safe, leave it open.

[Sheilaz]

When is it warm enough to leave the pop hole open at night? My walkin run is fox proof , Sue xxx

 

...within a foxproof WIR, I leave mine open all year, with a few concessions mid winter, would do more often if less sheltered though!

The best investment for this was a metal feeder, from Solway feeders, which the hens activate for pellets to drop down.

Self sufficient hens without feeding rats overnight!

[MaggieMcHen]

I have left mine open ALL year round to no ill effect after trying to shut the cube door one seriously frosty night and nearly decapitating one of my hens who was busy star gazing in the door way.

[alih]

Me too, all year round and healthy chicks to show for it...

[Puffin]

I only shut mine when we had really hard frosts and snow... I remember last summer getting up at about 4am due to my 2yr old daughter and looking out the window and seeing the chickens out scratching around... Sometimes I kind of half shut it to reduce the draft but then recently they then managed to shut it themselves with one chicken shut in and two shut out - this resulted in a noisy hen in the eglu and an egg being layed in the run!

[Hen Watch]

I was a big fan of leaving my eglu door open 24/7. And would still love to be able to do this. Not because of the weather, but because my girls got up at 4am mid summer and woke me and the whole neighbourhood with alarm calls bok boking. So to stop it I had to shut them in at night and open them every morning. But I wish I didn't have to.

[Egluntyne]

I never close my Eglu doors either. The hens are all in a WIR and I have a rat proof treadle feeder so the hens aren't having their food stolen overnight.