My husband and I are first time chicken owners. We have a trio of 6 week old chicks in our backyard. The coop we built them is roughly 3.5 feet x 2.5 feet, with a sloped roof that's probably 4' at the highest point. We have a perch, nest box, and their feed and water in the coop. Do they need their feed and water inside, or should I move it outside? Right now, they are confined to a wire dog crate as their outside run. Our backyard is adjacent to a very busy road, so we will have to clip their wings to keep them from flying over the privacy fence and being hit by a car. Until I get them to the vet to do so, I'm keeping the crate as their only run access to keep them safe. Once their wings are clipped, they will have access to a roughly 10' x 25' portion of the yard that we have sectioned off for them. I was just reading some articles on here about the waterer causing too much moisture buildup in the winter if kept in the coop, so I thought I would ask opinions. Here are a couple pictures of our setup. It's nothing fancy or pretty, but I think it will function. I just don't want to cause unneeded issues down the road with something as simple as moving their water if I need to. Thanks for any input!
I have feeding and watering stations outside - it makes vermin problems less likely, and also will reduce food competition problems in the future for your flock (as the subordinates can get to food and escape from dominant chickens more readily than being trapped in a confined space. I cover the feeding stations against rain, i should add. Other people keep food in their coops so i guess you should do what suits you. All the best CT
When mine are little like that I tend to always keep water inside and out but the food just out. Once they are more grown though I put both outside. It just keeps it cleaner and as mentioned keeps mice out of the coop.
We have the feed inside, water both inside & out. Come winter we will have water inside only so the warmer can be plugged-in. We've had no mice problems.
I keep water and food outside year-round. What kind of chickens do you have? Mine are RIR and they were in a yard with a 6' privacy fence for a year and never escaped without clipping there wings.
I have feed and water inside. But my coop is a 10x10 area inside my barn, so space is not an issue. My chickens go in and out all day.
Quote: I have a flock of lots of different breeds, and I let them roam every day in my yards with a 6 ft fence. None have ever escaped. I think it is against their nature to fly blind. In other words, since they can't see to the other side of the fence, they are unlikely to want to run and fly over it when they have no idea what they would be flying to. They also don't want to get separated from the rest of the flock.
