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Lavinia

Shut door or not?

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Can I have opinions please. Due to the fact that my new Welsh Terrier hates the chickens and will not leave the run alone I have moved the whole lot down to the allotment where they are really enjoying life. In fact I get more eggs now than ever before!! Is it ok to leave the door open at night during the winter months?

There are other chickens on the allotment and foxes do not appear to be a problem. Obviously if it gets really cold then I will shut them in but is ok normally?

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Hello Lavinia

 

Opinions are divided on this one. The eglu is fox proof with the door locked and the run is fox resistant.

 

I personally leave the door to the eglu open all year, as i am away with work a couple of nights per week. However, if i am home i do close the door at night if it is really cold.

 

The choice is yours, I'm sure others will give advise. :D

 

 

edited for spelling :oops:

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Rather like Christian, I leave my door open as long as it's not actually freezing. That way the girls can go to bed and get up when they please. I also have a clear plastic shower curtain over the whole run,which not only keeps the rain out but also makes the whole thing much warmer.

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I always close the door. :D

Wouldn't risk having the door open just in case a fox did manage to get into the run. The Eglu can only be 100% fox proof if it is shut! :wink:

During the night the fox can have hours of uninterupted time trying to get into the run-I would never under-estimate the fox, if desperate enough it WILL one day figure out a way in. :shock:

 

It's bad enough that the gaps in the wire of the Eglu run are too big. :( Hens have actually been hurt and injured through the bars. I know that someone on here actually had a hen killed whilst it was in the run. :shock:

If your hens get up very early-foxes can still be roaming about and even if the fox doesn't actually injure them through the run-it must be terrifying for the poor things having the fox prowling and scratching at them. :?

 

Of course we cannot be there watching all day every day but dusk and dawn are the worst times so is it really worth the risk?

 

Sorry to go on it's just that it's too late to feel guilty after the hens are gone. Prevention is better than cure. :D

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I shut the door now and sleep easier for it. I left the door open to start with and one night I heard a fox screeching from the bottom of the garden, i.e. where the cube is. In the morning there was some serious burrowing under the skirt and a lovely present for me right outside the door to the run, as if to say "I'll be back" :evil:

 

At the moment the cube is on my patio while I do some work to their usual spot and I am a lot more confident that foxy couldn't get in while they are on concrete.

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Life's a compromise, my Eglus are a few steps away in the back garden, but yours aren't - can you really go up to the allotment at dawn and dusk every day, considering how those times change throughout the year? We all have to make pragmatic decisions, I knew when I got my chickens that I'd sometimes have to be away overnight, and I leave the door open feeling confident that they've got the best possible protection in the Eglu and run.

 

There are a very few cases of foxes either getting into the run, or attacking through the run, but they are very rare. I'd put paving slabs or bricks all the way round the skirt, and of course check for any digging, but I think they would be fine with the door open. Lots of people on here leave it open all year round. I should think allotment life must be better than Terror by Terrier!

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We leave ours open all year. I go down and close the door on the front of the run at night (they free range during the day) but never shut the eglu door. They can come out when they please that way. If you have 2 or more chickens they fluff themselves up and will keep each other warm even on the coldest of night, just like other birds do in the wild.

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We open the door every morning at 7:30am and close it at 5:30pm (at the moment anyway, I'm sure it will change as it gets lighter/darker) I like knowing that the girls are 100% safe and warm. I couldnt imagin the horror if a fox did get in the run at night and taking the girls. Some people take the risk, but we dont.

 

xx

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I shut mine on week days, and at the weekends leave the door slighlty ajar, which they then push open themselves in the morning. My theory being if the majority of the time foxy doesn't seen them up at dawn he's less likely to be aware of their precesne (naive maybe), and having it ajar stops too much nasty draught. It seems to work - although for some reason they like to wake us up anyway at weekends crowing :x which they NEVER do mon-fri :?::?:

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We open the door every morning at 7:30am and close it at 5:30pm (at the moment anyway, I'm sure it will change as it gets lighter/darker) I like knowing that the girls are 100% safe and warm. I couldnt imagin the horror if a fox did get in the run at night and taking the girls. Some people take the risk, but we dont.

 

xx

 

I won't risk it either......plus I can't imagine what my neighbours would say in high summer if my girls got up at 4am as it got light and started making a noise....... to be honest they're actually pretty quiet - but they do kick up a fuss if they hear me come out of the kitchen or if I've been out and they hear me open the back gate :lol:

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