Closing coop up and opening in the morning question?

[rancher hicks]

I don't know where you are but you could use a drinking pitcher with one nipple in it so they are not with out water.

I must confess to not letting the girls out til those hours and they seem fine.

I wish you well,

Rancher

 

[Country Parson]

I'll play the role of a naysayer (somewhat). While my coop set-up allows for access to food/water 24/7, I dont believe this is necessary. For me, its a matter of convenience. For my birds, however, having food/water at night is useless since they are roosting. I had a cam set up for a while (trying to catch a predator), and those birds never moved from their roosts until morning. If you feel you must provide water at night, so be it--but I can almost guarantee your chicks are not drinking it. By nature they are programmed to roost high when its dark, and they ain't about to overrule instinct to get a midnight snack or cool drink.

With that said, I agree with the principle point that our birds need adequate access to food/water. BUT, if these resoures are not in the coop already, they WILL need them FIRST thing in the morning...every morning.

 

[hallerlake]

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Mine wait until i get up. No problem.

 

[hallerlake]

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My neighbors have rights, too. I live in the city. Being in the coop muffles the crowing until a reasonable hour.

 

[Country Parson]

As for whether it is lazy or not, I'll not caste stones I'm still at that stage of life where I stay up late and have a hard time getting up in the morning. I wouldnt worry too much if the chickens are let out at 6am, 7:30am, or 9am. We are talking about chickens. They dont own a watch and there isnt that much difference in time. Probably about 30-45 minutes after runrise is the best, in terms of night predators. I would also think waiting too long (without acess to food) would contribute to pecking and perrhaps canniablism. If you let them out at 7am your a top notch chicken caretaker. If you let them out at 9am your still a decent caretaker. If you wait till noon then perhaps its time to post a for sale ad in craigslist.

 

[The Proprietor]

Thank you for answering my questions about where to put the food and water.
It will not be inside the enclosed coop part because it's to small, but in the small wire run attached to it. I was worried they needed it inside with them. They have full access to the small wired area and they will be let out of the coop/run area in the morning to a large, fenced area where they can get back into the run if they need to. Does this sound OK? I'm preparing my space and want to make sure I'm doing things correctly.
Thanks!

 

[Yay Chicks!]

I'm guessing that the run is probably covered since that's where the food will be?

I usually take up the feeder at night and put it into a secure container so as not to attract rats.

Sounds like you have a good set up. Will you be around when they are free ranging in the yard? Just be aware of predators from above (hawks mostly). If you have some shrubs they can dive under, that's helpful.

 

[The Proprietor]

Yay Chicks! :

I'm guessing that the run is probably covered since that's where the food will be?

I usually take up the feeder at night and put it into a secure container so as not to attract rats.

Sounds like you have a good set up. Will you be around when they are free ranging in the yard? Just be aware of predators from above (hawks mostly). If you have some shrubs they can dive under, that's helpful.

It's covered and enclosed by small gage wire. The coop and small run area are elevated 18" off the ground and reinforced underneath so I'm able to keep them completely enclosed overnight and safe from predators.
You brought up a very good point about when they are free ranging. I am in the process of enclosing the large run that they will have access to during the day and I'm trying to decide whether or not to put a wire roof on to keep out predators during the day. They will have plenty of shade from a large pine tree so I'm not to concerned about roof shade in the summer but we have raccoons, skunks, possums, coyotes- pretty much every animal that would love to eat my chickens-LOL, also, hawks that like to use my bird feeders as a free, sparrow buffet. Hawks are my main concern since racoons and such are usually active at night when my kids will be tucked up nice and safe in their coop.
If I have a 6 foot fence surrounding the free range area and the covered coop and covered small run within the 6" fence and the huge pine tree covering most of it, do I really need to cover the free range area?
Thanks for any input​

 

[elmo]

Here's something else to think about: in an emergency, what would happen if someone couldn't go and let the chickens out some morning? They'd be locked inside a coop with no food or water.

If you don't have room for your regular feeder and waterer inside the coop, you probably have room for a small cup for each, enough to take care of your chickens in an emergency.

The other thing about leaving the main feeder out in the run is that it can attract mice and rats, and very few runs are so secure to keep those pests out permanently if they're attracted by at a full feeder. I'm also concerned about leaving feed out in case it gets wet and goes moldy. I use small feeders that holds only a little more than our flock eats in a typical day, and I replenish it daily from a vittles vault I keep indoors.

 

[Cindy in PA]

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Of course they don't drink at night, but they will want to drink as soon as it gets light or when a light goes on in their coop. If that's 2 hours before they are let out to their water, it could be a problem.