Coop in progress - have a question

[Yankeechick]

We are building our first coop for our 3 chicks.
It is mostly out of materials we salvaged from our old finished basement we tore out.
It is 8 x 12 altogether, with 2x4 of it being the housing portion and the rest will be screened in. It will have a hanging waterer and feeder in the screened in section. My question is... do we need to have food and water INSIDE the actual housing portion? We plan to free range them and during the day, they will have constant access to food and water. Do they need it through the night as well?
We did give them 2 perches in there and a nesting box.
Here is what we have so far. I'm hoping to finish it this weekend.

 

[aran]

awesome looking coop...the inside is probably JUST big enough for your 3 girls though assuming they are standards. ( 8sq feet in there at 2x4 = less than 3 feet per bird) Our girls ( and boys) do get feed and water overnight but im not sure that you absolutely need to. I guess it depends on the ages of the birds. As babies they would probably benefit from having food available 24/7 but probably not so important overnight as adults.

jmo

aran

 

[Yankeechick]

Yes, we designed it especially for 3 chickens. The nesting box adds a couple more square feet as well. I was hoping not to have to put a waterer on the inside because it will make so much more of a mess and I read getting the litter wet will make it smell alot more because it activates the ammonia or something like that...

 

[lurky]

That is really nice. They should be happy there.

 

[BeckyLa]

That's a very nice little coop! If I understand your pictures correctly, the run will also be covered so I see no reason to put the food and water in the coop itself. I don't put the water in my coops, only the feed to keep it out of the weather. As long as you let your birds out first thing in the morning to give them early access to feed & water they'll be fine.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Very cute little coop! I agree with BeckyLa, water and feed at night isn't necessary. Once they go in to sleep at night, they don't tend to leave the roost anyway.

 

[aran]

Well it seems I can stop putting the water in with the babies overnight then. Thanks guys. I will continue to give them their food in there though as they are hungry lil buggars!
As far as the shavings getting wet it does seem to make it smell worse and means having to change the bedding more frequently.