Feed/Water Placement

[bobchristenson]

Hi all,
New to chickens, here, and constructing my coop before we get them (February!). I'm fairly happy with how things are coming along, but I realized I'm going to have a dilemma when it comes to where to place my feeder and waterer.

As you can see in the images below (hopefully), one side of the enclosed area has the nest boxes, the other side has the perches. In the middle is both the pop door and the 'people door'. So, now I have a dilemma of where I hang my feeders (going to get the hanging type).

No matter what I do it seems it's going to partially block something because there's no 'empty' space to hang them. They'll either partially block a nest box (I'm afraid they won't use of of the boxes if it's partially blocked) or it'll hang in front of both doors (and partially block the perches).

Now, I don't think it'll block them completely no matter where I hang them, but if I'm going to hang them in front of something what do you advise? Thanks for helping this future-chicken-daddy....

 

[fireguy56]

Bob, You could put a poop shelf or board under rosts since chickens poop the most while sleeping. Easy to collect and dispose of rather than hitting the floor. then you could put feeder/waterer under that. The only other spot I see is to the left of the door. But proberbly not have enough room for feeder and waterer. I only provide feed and water outside in run, but I am in S.E. Louisiana, with mild winters. Girls go out all of the time, even when its 35 degrees, only we don't hve the snow you guys get. Sooooo, you need to have their food and water inside. If ya do the poop board thing, you will have the space. Good luck.
Erik

 

[kichohana]

I have my water bucket outside my coop and piped in with pvc and nipples for the girls to get their water. Water stays clean and is easy to refill from outside the coop. It has worked great for me. Now this winter I will have to switch it out for my heated dog water bowl which goes in the coop on a cinder block at about "beak height". If you have a traditional waterer, hang it from a side wall with a plant bracket from the garden section of your local home improvement superstore. It will keep your chickens from stepping in their water, keep shavings/bedding out of the water and will help keep it cleaner.

My feeder is traditional - red n white plastic from local farm supply store. I had it on a cinder block @ "beak height", but i discovered mouse droppings in and around it. YUCK!!! It now hangs from a chain off the floor - seems the mice aren't very acrobatic as I haven't found evidence of poop since moving the feeder.

I agree with fireguy56 about the poop board. Will make clean up a breeze. Also, don't know how permanent your nestbox is, but if it could be moved under the roosts, put a poop board above it/below the roosts, both your feeder and water could go on the side where the nest box currently is.

Just a suggestion about your roosts - switch out your 2x2 roosts for 2x4's - the wider side up is easier for the birds to balance/roost on - and in cold weather they can hunker down and cover their feet with their feathers easier on a wider board.

I have a lot of pictures on my page of some of my suggestions. Hope the info is helpful!

P.S.

and good planning on building your coop before the chickens arrive!

 

[bobchristenson]

Quote:
I love this idea of hanging them UNDER the roosts...but it made me think of something possibly even better. Under my nest boxes (which are VERY permanent

I have about 18" of empty space. What about putting a hook under each box, one for feed one for water. So the feeders could hang under the nest boxes, making use of that empty space. Thoughts?

Thanks for the great direction! (another post suggested I just do one perch, so I may be able to modify the perch section even better to hang the food/water under there if nest boxes are a bad idea)

 

[Wynette]

I would highly recommend a PV feeder - you can find tons of pics of them on here, they are easy to make, hold lots of feed, and fit flat against the wall - you could easily mount it to the left of your pop door. They take up VERY LITTLE room, too - I absolutely love them! By the way, I'm in Michigan, also - near Flint. Shoot me a note any time you need anything!

 

[aoxa]

How many chickens are you getting?

I have my food and water outside, and a smaller feeder (a rabbit one) inside. You have very little room inside, so I would consider putting them in the run.

 

[Wynette]

I agree with aoxa on feeding/watering outside - I ALWAYS put my feed & water outside as long as I can - when it begins to freeze, though, it needs to be moved inside.

Here's a YouTube video that shows one version of a PVC feeder - they fit right up next to the wall, and take up very little room. There is little wastage, as they can't really flip the feed out.

 

[mamabigbird]

I have my feed and water under the nest boxes. They aren't hanging but up on cinder blocks so they don't get bedding kicked into them.
Water and feed containers can be heavy but as long as the nest boxes are structurally sound you could hang them there.

 

[Wynette]

Quote:
This is a very good idea as well. My nest boxes are all accessible from outside the coops, so I don't have any overhangs like yours, but it would definitely be a good use of space!

 

[bobchristenson]

Quote:
Thanks for the suggestions of a PVC feeder. I like the idea of putting them on the wall to save space! I'll see if this may work out.

Here in Michigan there's at least 3-4 months where I couldn't put water outside (brrrrrr!), so I need a plan inside for sure (figuring out a heater for the water is a separate issue

)

Thanks for all the input!