Do you need to have food and water in the hen house over night?

[Ogre1]

first time raising chickens and my husband built a chicken tractor. There is lots of food and water all day but can I put them inside the house at dusk with no water and no food. Approximately 8pm to 6am?

 

[jetdog]

first time raising chickens and my husband built a chicken tractor.  There is lots of food and water all day but can I put them inside the house at dusk with no water and no food.  Approximately 8pm to 6am?

They should be fine without food and water, when they go in to roost for the night if it's dark they are basically in a coma for the night and if you let them out early enough they will be fine, I only offer it in the winter inside as they will spend more time inside.

 

[Ogre1]

Thanks

 

[vcallaway]

Mine go in the coop at night and to lay. Rest of the time they are out foraging.

I started off with food and water in the coop. They never touched the food. They do drink the water. Mostly in the morning before I let them out.

My routine is to let them out in the morning, go back in the house and make coffee, check email etc... After that I take a cup of coffee outside and toss feed out in the grass. I do something similar in the evenings.

I've left feeders out for them but when they are in the yard they don't seem to have much interest. Just when I toss some in the grass. During the winter things are different.

 

[evemfoster]

I keep the old chick water in one corner of the coop for when they are inside at night. The hens do take a drink in the mornings while waiting for me to open up.

The big water is out in the run and they have to come back from free ranging to get a drink. It is a heated waterier and will replace the little waterier inside the coop during the winter.

While I have a regular hopper feeder in the coop I don’t use it unless its winter. I feed Fermented Feed in a plastic tray inside the run. FF can be rained on and it's still good. If it pours buckets i just pick up the tray and pour off the excess water. Most people who feed FF ration it out. Giving measured feedings morning and evening. I just fill the pan enough for 2-3 days and forget it. Keeping it full so that there is some feed available at all times. When I put the birds up for the night I just pick up the feed tray and set it on a stand just inside the coop door. Most of the time it doesn’t look like the chickens even touched the feed until morning.

I have never had trouble with pests getting into the Fermented Feed (field mice, chipmunks, squirrels, wild birds) like they get into the dry feed. Chipmunks are thick around here and I have seen them run right over the top of the FF without even slowing down. They don’t seem to like FF because the feed is wet so wont store well for the winter. No idea why wild birds don't peck at it.

 

[RethaT]

I'm new to this also I don't have feed or water in the coop, I put their feed and water out when I let them out between 7 and 730 and I empty the water at night and put the feeder away once they are in the coop for the night. I am wondering if I should have some kind of water in with them for the night???

 

[rosemarythyme]

As long as you can consistently provide water in the morning there's probably no need to have it in the coop overnight, they certainly won't drink in the dark. Possibly the exception would be if you live somewhere with extremely high temperatures and dehydration is a concern, but I don't know how many places are 95+ degrees at 7:00-7:30 in the morning.

 

[as110]

I have water in the coop I put it in at night and move it out in the morning. I had feed in the coop but the hens just pooped inside. Now I don't have food in there. Water is important because I don't always let them out when the rooster calls. It depends on how tired I am when I wake up.

 

[chick watcher]

Food no, water yes. If something happens and you are not there to let them out in the mornings it is very hard on them. If for no other reason think of water in the coop as a safety measure. You should always have some fresh clean water available at all times.

 

[lazy gardener]

Or can they have it outside only? New to the whole thing. I know in the winter they would need water and food in the hen house. But when I am moving my tractor and letting them free range all day do they need to eat at a night?

Thank you

It all depends: Do you have a prepared feed available for them in their tractor during the day? Or do they only get what they glean from the ground? (just seeking clarification here to be sure we are all on the same page.) If they leave the tractor, and go into their coop at dusk, and come out to the tractor early in the morning, every single morning, without fail, and you can be assured that life won't get in the way of you seeing to it that that happens, THEN... they will be fine overnight in the coop without feed and water. If there's a remote possibility that you may be delayed in letting them out in the morning, it would be a cheap insurance policy to keep a little bucket of water in the coop for them. Feed is not necessary, but water is very necessary, especially if trapped in a hot coop on a hot day.