Better to feed in henhouse or in run?

[Caju]

@ Cmom: thanks for posting pics. I can never get enough of looking at other people's coops and set-ups!
@ Hutton: I think that's a good plan.
@ Chook-a-holic: So in the warm months, yours only go inside to sleep at night? It doesn't get that hot here, but I think putting the feeder and waterer under the house is a good idea. It would keep them shaded.
@ Jennh: The chicken wire doesn't go out because the structure sits on a a skirt/foundation of cement pavers. I would have had to somehow get the wire under the pavers after wrapping around the bottom of the bottom piece of the run structure. THe way it is, a critter on the outside would have to dig a tunnel of more than 18'' to get inside: starting well out from the wall, they'd have to go under the paver and then forward for 12 inches, then continue another 6 inches under the wire before digging up to the surface inside. We don't have weasels or foxes or things that make long digging tunnels here. I know raccoons can be very clever though, and we do have racoons, so hopefully they don't figure out how to unlock my locks or pry out all the staples holding the wire onto the vertical posts!
@Intheswamp: Thanks for that link. Very useful! I'll be printing that out and posting it on the back door as a reminder!

Any idea why citrus is not okay? It was the only thing on the list without a reason/explanation.

I did a bunch of weeding today and am looking forward to throwing those greens in the coop with them, or hanging them up, as people have suggested (this is one area where I will not follow Hutton's rule of only feeding them what I would eat; while I'm pretty sure I could eat sowthistle, I'm not so interested in it).

 

[TeriNick50]

I feed and water outside the coop in an enclosed pen under a roof ... winter, spring, summer and fall.
Treats are put into the pen.
I've never fed oyster shells ... will crush their egg shells and mix with other treats.

 

[Keene's coop]

i will be feeding outside of coop too since my coop and run will all be enclosed. and yes you can feed potato skins to your chickens. my grandparents have been doing it for years with no problems. they just don't give them alot. and sometimes the chickens eat them and sometimes they don't.

 

[RockwaterFarm]

better inside cause if it ever rains your feed is ruined and if the chickens eat the wet feed they could get sick.

 

[95yj]

i always keep their feed inside, if its outside its gonna get wet and mold within days. I have a small coop so i prefer to keep their water outside when i can, right now i have a 3 gallon heated waterer that you could just about drown a moose in inside the coop, it takes up like 1/2 the coop and the chickens were unplugging it as a daily ritual, pretty much useless.

 

[Keri78]

YUP!!! What they said!!!

 

[12GAGirl]

I feed and water my flock in the run. They only sleep in their house at night. My two-cents about feeding them in their house is the fact they poop alot while sitting on their perches and well I don't want to eat in my bathroom so I didn' want them to have their feed sitting close to all that poop even though I clean once a week. My run has a roof over it made out of old tin so it does leak but I just cut back on the feed on rainy days and feed them more often on those days. The water is hanging outside too since we have hot summers, figured they wouldn't want to have to go in and out the house so much to drink. I have yet to let them free range in our yard becasue of the cats but I think they ae getting big enough to handle themselves, they will be 6 months old 02/24.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

I feed inside and water outside unless its below freezing outside, by feeding inside you keep the wild birds out of you feed and the weather

 

[Bullwinkle]

During the warmer months when i fill their food/water i put them in the coop. When I let them out in the a.m. then I put the food and water outside.

This winter I have been keeping both inside (lots of snow). When it's nice outside (and there are actual bugs and green stuff as opposed to all this snow) the hens only seem to go into the coop to lay their eggs and then they are back outside.