I do scatter some of the dry food (meals and grains) in the pen area but for the most part I keep bowls of dry food in the coop along with a bowl of water. That way there is never a chance that my penning my chickens up would cause them to go hungry or thirsty. I always worry that something could happen to me while Im away and they are penned that would prevent me from getting home, as planned, to care for them. At least I know they have a couple of days worth of food available.
Bowls of treats (wet corn and cooked beans) I take in at night and bring out fresh in the morning. I would worry that the wet foods' smells might attract predators to the pen and coop at night.
Note my babies do not come down off their roost until dawn so they never eat nor drink at night anyway.
