Issues with Feeding and Watering in the New Coop

[missydney]

We are NEW to the chicken scene and I have a question.......

we finally moved our small 9 week old flock of 7 to their permanent coop a week or so ago and all this time I have been noticing that they are not eating and drinking as well as they use too in the temporary coop.....

in the temp. coop I had the feed hung and the water sitting on the floor and in the new coop I have both hung from the ceiling, I know they are not too high or anything like that.... SO today out of curiosity I moved all the water and feed hoppers outside in the run and to my surprise they were drinking and eating like mad......

can anyone give me any possible answers to this issue?????

 

[CHICKLOVER69]

Thats a stump for me. Guess they will eat and drink when they get deperate enough,but hate to see it come to that. I'm trying to finish my coop and run and was debating on putting food and water in the coop or just the run. Read it both ways, so comes to preferance. Made sense that they only sleep and lay eggs in the coop, unless getting out of bad weather. I've decided to just feed and water in the run. May put water in the coop also when I first introduce them to their new home. Almost 4 weeks old and hope to get them moved in next week. Good luck

 

[missydney]

thanks so much for the input I guess I had forgot to mention that we have nasty winter's here so it is important that they learn to eat and drink inside the coop.....

 

[missydney]

update...... this morning was our first rain in a long time I thought I would let the chicks out and that if they didn't like it they would return to the coop.... no such luck they huddled in a corner of the run so I had to wake up our daughter to help me get them back into the coop where it was nice and dry..... we watched them for a little bit and they started eating and drinking inside the coop.... so maybe this will help the issue a little bit....

 

[meralgia]

Is there a reason why you insist on keeping your chickens in the coop? Mine have hardly spent a night in the coop since I've gotten them. I fretted about it at first and then decided that the run and coop are secure, it's pretty warm outside and the breeze feels nice. There are times when I'd like to sleep outside, but I eventually drag myself to the bed in my stuffy, hot bedroom.

 

[missydney]

our chickens just naturally go inside the coop at dusk to roost, I have feed and water inside the coop and also water in the run.... they are outside and in and out of the coop all day.....

can I ask for advice about what you do with your chickens/water/food/coop/heat/etc. in the winter? I see your from MN so we have the same issues regarding winter..... thanks so much in advance

 

[deathfromabove]

I leave my food and water outside in the run. The run has a roofso the food stays dry. During the winter I put a water tank heater in my waterer so it doesn't freeze and haven't had a problem with it and this is my second year raising chickens.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I also only have feed and water in the run, none in the coop. I only close the pop door when extreme winter weather is coming over night.

I have a heated nipple water bucket so it's no problem keeping water available all winter outside.

In the rain mine never go back in the coop, they will hang out under the coop but they also venture out into the open run and get wet but it don't seem to bother them so I don't let it bother me.

 

[scubaharry]

I have the main feeder outside and 5 water nipples in a pvc pipe in run. Also separate feeder for crushed oyster shells. Have a small freezer and 4 water nipples inside of coop. They spend most of there time out in run. The run is covered so no problem with rain.

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[scubaharry]

Feeder in run under coop