Food and water in or out of the hen house if open to a secure run?

[J&JCossey]

Thank you all for the great feedback! Because we have such nice weather here in CA, I imagine that they will want to be outside most of the time so I think I will do food and water out in the secure run and see how that goes. Prior to putting the chickens into the coop, I'll do a "pre-chicken test" by leaving a little food in the run once it is complete just to see how secure it really is. Thanks again!

 

[Nonny]

Food is outside in a treadle feeder (rodent proof), water is outside hanging from a tree. Our coop at the moment is just a sleeping area and nests, the new coop is bigger, bvut I'm still planning on outside food and waterers since the girls will be able to freely access it without waiting for me to get up and let them out in the morning.

 

[Felony]

my food and water is outside, i wouldn't like the water inside in case of spillage the wood shavings would get wet. also like someone else said, it gives them a reason to move out of their house, even in the cold winter ( i'm mean hey!) I think the idea of putting all or at least a strip of 1/4 inch hardwarecloth at the bottom to prevent mice from coming in would be a good idea!

 

[<3 N.C Chicken Chick <3]

Mine are outside.

 

[confusedturtle]

I keep the food in the coop and the water in the run. I used to use a loaf pan to feed them in but they would dump it everytime, then toss all of the bedding trying to find the food. The bedding never stood a chance. I adjusted my coop so that they cant throw the bedding out but that is to be determined since I just did it today. I also bought them a hanging feeder which should end the food spilling and bedding tossing. I like the idea of a hanging feeder (rigged some outside of the coop during summer for the girls) because mice cant get into them. I like the water in the run because I didnt want the water to get dumped in there as well. I might look and see if the feed store has any hanging ones though because my girls constantly fill mine with dirt. In or out it wont get spilled if it is hanging

 

[KDK1]

Feed and water in the coop at all times. Also water in the run at all times. Treats are served evey day in the run in a trough that I built to prevent skirmishes (actually I built it so I woudn't be walking through cabbage, tomoatoes, cucumbers, etc. but it amazed me how they all settled down and got along come treat time). It was a great discovery.

 

[littleflocker]

Outside

I also put a half gallon bucket at the opposite end of the run by the coop so they drink water when they are hanging out by the coop.

 

[J&JCossey]

Thank you all for the great ideas and pictures! Very helpful!

 

[spacecowgirl]

I always keep the food inside the coop because I'm afraid of mold if I keep it outside. I also leave a small bowl of water inside the coop, just in case I over sleep and don't let them out in a timely manner.

They have three different water containers in their run, though, and I only have four chickens, for now......

 

[MontanaChickenLady]

This time of year I keep water inside the house at all times so it doesn't freeze and the girls have access to it during the night. Their food is always outside. My coop is on stilts and we put huge eye hooks under the coop so that I can hang the feeder and waterer and the girls can't mess in either. Works great for us!!