In a recent survey, the number one concern was “How do I keep my chickens safe?” In this blog post, learn some tips from our team on how to protect your flock and keep your chickens safe.

Chickens are vulnerable at all hours of the day and night. Some of the most common problems we hear are neighborhood dogs and birds of prey that attack during the day. At night the most problematic predators are raccoons, fox, mink, skunks, opossums, and owls.

At sunset, your birds will instinctively come home to roost. Chickens and other fowl prefer to find a safe roosting location for the nighttime. Use this to your advantage and securely lock them into their coop. This is not necessarily to keep the chickens in, but to keep the predators out. You can accomplish this by manually shutting and locking the coop door yourself or using a coop door with a timer. We recommend shutting your flock in each night, as it only takes one time for a predator to get in and attack your flock. Automatic coop doors are a nice option. They will automatically close the coop door each evening, so if you are gone or arrive home late your birds will be safely locked up in the coop.

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