Do I need to put food and water with my chickens overnight?

[Emily_loveschickens]

Hi, I was wondering if I should put some food and water in my chickens coop overnight. I know the crops are supposed to empty so I have not been putting food in, but it has been pretty hot so should I put water?

 

[kerbotx]

If your coop is dark at night, they will stay put on their roosts - chickens have no special night vision, so they don't really move around after dark. But if you use artificial lighting in your coop, or if you don't let them out right around daybreak, then you should consider having water available.

 

[Emily_loveschickens]

I lock them In their Coop at around 8:00 and I let them out in the morning at 6:30

 

[K0k0shka]

I lock them In their Coop at around 8:00 and I let them out in the morning at 6:30

In that case, you don't need to. I have my chickens' crumble in the coop in a large capacity feeder that just stays there permanently. I only refill it every couple of weeks. That's so I don't have to lug feed back and forth every day. It stays inside the coop as opposed to outside because the coop is secure at night and pests can't get in to eat the feed. If I had the feeder outside, I'd have to bring it in and take it back out every day (since my run isn't rodent proof) and that's just more work than I want right now. So the feed stays inside the coop permanently. I keep the water outside so the coop bedding stays dry. My auto door opens at sunrise, so the chickens don't stay inside very long before they can go get water.