Food and Water Inside Coop?

[Poppy Putentake]

I'm planning a a new chicken house and want to have aplace inside for food and water. For security from predators, my plan is to have a soild floor (wood frame and plywood), but in the one corner with food and water dispensers, some kind of grating that will allow spills to drain out. This would also help with ventilation (combined with vents near the roof).

I was thinking of using the bottoms of plastic bulb trays, of which I have a few. (Pictures here.) These will support a chicken's weight easily, and in some, the openings are as little as about 1/8" wide. (To make things predator secure, I'd probablly still want to have hardware cloth underneath the plastic grating -- in fact, I was thinking of hardware cloth to cover the outside of the entire plywood floor anyway to prevent wood-gnawing critters from entering.)

I'm interested in others' suggestions.

 

[tripletfeb]

Depending on your winters, I would not have any ventilation on the floor. Wind and snow could blow up and into the coop that way. Vents up by the roof are good, where the wind won't blow on the chickens. I use the deep bedding method in my coop so any food that drops just composts along with the poop. And I use a bucket with horizontal nipples so there is no water spilling

 

[K0k0shka]

I would recommend against water in the coop, unless they spend extensive amounts of daylight time inside. If they don't, then they don't need water in there. Without water, you won't have to worry about spills or increased humidity in the winter that can lead to frostbite. I keep their water outside only, in the run, but I like to keep the feeder inside the coop, so it doesn't attract rodents and wild birds during the day, and so that I don't have to bring it in every night and take it back out every morning (leaving feed outside will attract nighttime pests). Get/make yourself a spill-proof feeder and you won't need a special setup to avoid spills. I made aart's DIY funnel feeder a few years ago and absolutely love it! It's truly spill proof and zero waste.

 

[Sally PB]

I would recommend against water in the coop, unless they spend extensive amounts of daylight time inside. If they don't, then they don't need water in there. Without water, you won't have to worry about spills or increased humidity in the winter that can lead to frostbite.

This, exactly. I have food in the coop, but I take it inside everynight. I have two other feeders in the run.

The only water is a large, heated dog water bowl in the run. It's not easy for the chickens to dump it, but they have, twice, in 3 winters. That would be disastrous in the coop.

 

[aart]

I use a heated horizontal nipple waterer and have no problems with spills or evaporation.
Best thing I ever did in my chickeneering venture.

I'd be wary of that crate, could catch a toenail and will definitely collect poops....
...I use one as a ramp platform, mostly covered with plywood.

 

[K0k0shka]

This, exactly. I have food in the coop, but I take it inside everynight. I have two other feeders in the run.

The only water is a large, heated dog water bowl in the run. It's not easy for the chickens to dump it, but they have, twice, in 3 winters. That would be disastrous in the coop.

I have a large dog bowl as well, and I love it! This is my 4th winter with it and the chickens have never spilled it yet. I have it in a corner of the run, elevated on a short log/stump with other logs around it, which helps them not kick stuff into it from the ground or accidentally step in it. They have to step up to it on the wooden "steps". So far I haven't seen them step inside it at all, or even on the edge. The power cord is zip-tied up along the fence in the corner, with only enough slack at the bottom for me to be able to turn the bowl over and dump the water for cleaning. But the rest of the cord being zip tied means it's not easily tipped over at all. I've been very happy with this setup.

 

[Poppy Putentake]

I'd be wary of that crate, could catch a toenail and will definitely collect poops....

The grating has already been field-tested -- it's in my current chicken house.
I used just the bottom part of the crate -- I trimmed off the sides/upper part. The bottom section has a flange around the edge that allows it to fit neatly into a rectangular opening:

The holes are rounded and there are different kinds with different hole widths. I don't think there will be a problem with excessive drafts because 1. if the grate is on the floor, the wind will not be blowing directly perpendicualr to the grate and 2. the holes are less than 50% of the area and any wind blowing through will become diffused. Also, there will be a poop board directly under the roosts.
Of course poops can collect on the grates but they do also on a solid floor.
The problem I'm trying to avert is some kind of waterer malfunction that would spill water onto the floor.

 

[Debbie292d]

We do like @aart said above; horizontal nipple bucket. No open water. Ours is 5-gallon DYI. Our coop is heated to 40F so it doesn't freeze but they make heated ones too. We use horse bedding pellets so if any drips ever those are absorbed fast too.

I should add, we have no run, so the food/water has to stay in our coop.