Coop cleanliness

[kosan]

If Birds are only in the coop to roost,,,does there need to be water and food in it to ?,,,, i know its different in the winter or if you know there gonna be cooped up because of whatever the case may be,,i'm only talking in general,,whats your thoughts?

 

[skunknchatter]

My coop is for sleeping and egg laying only. I call it a "hen house" rather than a coop. The Hen House is inside a 12'x16' chain link "coop". The hen house is up on 2' tall legs which are mounted to 8" tall cinderblock post mounts. So it's almost 3' off the ground. This gives the hens some shelter from rain and snow. In the winter I enclose 3 sides under the hen house to protect them from the wind. I never put food and water in the hen house. Not even in the winter. I use a heated dog bowl for their water in the winter because they are way cheaper than heated chicken waterers and sooo much easier to keep clean. I have a treadle feeder that I build a little shelter for so the rain doesn't get into it. It stays outside in the same place year round. I've never had any problems. I've also never lost a chicken in the winter. I don't have heat in my coop either. Just good ventilation and lots of hens to keep each other warm.

I also have a duck that goes in the hen house and NO WAY would I want water in there with him. He makes a big enough mess with it outside!

 

[pdirt]

We keep food and water in our covered run. We let them out of the coop when we get up in the morning, which is usually around 7am. This works well in our snowy winters, too, because the run is covered. Our run is fully enclosed, which means it is nearly as predator proof as the coop is.

Not having feed and water in the coop also means there is just a little more room for the birds during bad weather. There will be times they don't want to spend much time in the run, except to eat and get a drink. After a meal, they will return to the coop and having as much space in there as possible is ideal for their social health.