Food and water inside or out?

[Faso]

Simple question. Where and why do you keep your feed and water? Inside the run or inside the actual coop?

I found that my coop isn't too big and it seemed like the nesting boxes were close to the feed. The water was too small(chick watered) so i made one of those bucket waterers(which is great!!!) With that said, i moved both the feed and the water out to the run. They seem to be fine with it.

Is there any reason why this is bad? The feed hangs on a bungee cord so it's not touching anything on the ground. I wasn'r sure if bugs would get to/in it. Seems to be fine though...

Thoughts? I'm a real newbie. I only had these chickens for a little over a month. Never had chickens before in my life or known anyone with chickens. I just thought i would give it a try for myself and my young daughters.(whom love them!!!)

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

The simple answer is that we all do it differently. There is no right way or wrong way, just the way we do it.

I have feed and water inside and out. My coop is oversized so if I feel like waiting until late morning to let them out, no big deal. If the college girl that takes care of them when I'm out of town is late letting them out, no big deal.

I also have feed and water outside. I have different ages in my flock. If I have different feeding stations, the bullies have trouble keeping the young ones from eating.

Some people don't like to feed outside because wild birds eat a lot of the feed. I think the wild birds eat more of my feed inside than out. About every time I go down there I find wild birds inside the coop.

Whichever way you want to go about it is fine with me. I won't criticize you either way.

 

[Faso]

I see. For me, the birds can't get to it. They have no way in, thankfully!

 

[mickey328]

We keep ours outside for a couple reasons...first, the coop is fairly small and it would make a horrid mess in there and also because we want them to get used to only being in the coop to lay and to sleep at night.

 

[Creaking pines kids]

I keep my chicken food inside so it does not get wet. I dont really think that the water really matters if it out or in the coop. Hope this helps!

 

[Spikes Chooks]

Our coop also is small and it would be cramped if I put them in there. The attached run is bird proofed and has a section covered in clear PVC roofing so it stays dry - and I leave the feed and water there. The run itself is locked up at night but the coop needn't be - so whatever time they get up they can come down the ramp to eat and drink.

I let mine out to free range in the afternoon. Previously, I have been propping the run door open so they can go back if startled (they seem to prefer the closest cover anyway) and occasionally to eat and drink. I have just noticed wild pigeons have been walking in and helping themselves so now I close the run door when they're out and place some food and water outside in case they need it.

It's important your setup is easy for you - to clean and top up food and water. That way you won't be tempted to skip it and your children can help, depending on their ages. And the chickens have access to it all as they want it. So however will work for you. Enjoy! Chickens are great fun to have, aren't they?

 

[trooper]

Not to say right or wrong,but I place my water and feed accordingly to the seasons.In the summer time I place it outside.It's easier to feed and water,they pretty much stay outside which keeps the coop fairly clean They stay out side most all the time in the summer within their run.Less dust and such in the water and feed.In the winter I bring it inside.I give them treats when I feed them in the morning and this is when I fill the bowls.I have 2 coups and I'm in the process of putting a catwalk between them with windows.I'm hoping that this will help keep the water from freezing or at least not freeze to solid.With the feed inside I feel it is better.If it snows or rains they can stay inside and or at least get to their food.It works for me.

 

[Phyrst]

I've been reading everything I can on chickens and one thing keeps coming up. If you have chickens, you have to feed them. Chickens are messy and some spillage is the norm, even with the bigger feeders you build. If you have spills, you'll get mice. Everyone agrees with that. I don't feed inside the coop because it's too hard to keep cleaned up. And coops can be a haven to mice. Some of the bigger breeds of chickens will actually eat mice. I've seen them chase down and fight over a mouse, a tug-of-war with a bad ending for the rodent! But then some chickens don't seem to like mice. I only have bantams now and they are scared of mice, at least this flock is. So I do everything I can to keep the mouse population under control. The food trays go out in the pen and I take them inside my house every evening (cats inside the house so no problem there). Even so, I've looked out the kitchen window before just around dusk and dawn and have seen mice running around the pen trying to find more food. I found a tip on this site about trapping mice and it's helped a lot. Since I don't feed in the coop, the mice don't stay there. I set traps in the coop just in case but haven't caught anything now for weeks. You have to be careful about snap traps around chickens, you don't want to leave them anywhere the chickens can get or you'll end up catching a poor chicken! I've written a rather lengthy article with some tips, like buying eggs to hatch, to problems with mice. I scoured this site for info. In fair weather I stop using the traps and let nature do it's thing - mainly rat snakes! The snakes only come around if there's mice. So no more mice, snakes move on! If you live in a cooler, northern state you may not have snakes but most of us do. I consider it a good trade-off. I hate mice and although I don't like being scared unexpectedly by a snake, I'd rather put up with reptiles than rodents. That's my reasoning behind feeding outside. I'm sure everyone has their own ideas. I do keep water in the coop. Chickens drink a lot of water!
Here's the link to my article. Hope you like it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-tv-and-the-story-of-a-flock

 

[trooper]

I've been reading everything I can on chickens and one thing keeps coming up. If you have chickens, you have to feed them. Chickens are messy and some spillage is the norm, even with the bigger feeders you build. If you have spills, you'll get mice. Everyone agrees with that. I don't feed inside the coop because it's too hard to keep cleaned up. And coops can be a haven to mice. Some of the bigger breeds of chickens will actually eat mice. I've seen them chase down and fight over a mouse, a tug-of-war with a bad ending for the rodent! But then some chickens don't seem to like mice. I only have bantams now and they are scared of mice, at least this flock is. So I do everything I can to keep the mouse population under control. The food trays go out in the pen and I take them inside my house every evening (cats inside the house so no problem there). Even so, I've looked out the kitchen window before just around dusk and dawn and have seen mice running around the pen trying to find more food. I found a tip on this site about trapping mice and it's helped a lot. Since I don't feed in the coop, the mice don't stay there. I set traps in the coop just in case but haven't caught anything now for weeks. You have to be careful about snap traps around chickens, you don't want to leave them anywhere the chickens can get or you'll end up catching a poor chicken! I've written a rather lengthy article with some tips, like buying eggs to hatch, to problems with mice. I scoured this site for info. In fair weather I stop using the traps and let nature do it's thing - mainly rat snakes! The snakes only come around if there's mice. So no more mice, snakes move on! If you live in a cooler, northern state you may not have snakes but most of us do. I consider it a good trade-off. I hate mice and although I don't like being scared unexpectedly by a snake, I'd rather put up with reptiles than rodents. That's my reasoning behind feeding outside. I'm sure everyone has their own ideas. I do keep water in the coop. Chickens drink a lot of water!
Here's the link to my article. Hope you like it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-tv-and-the-story-of-a-flock

I understand what you are saying,but I may have a mouse or 2 from time to time but it isn't enough to worry about.The chickens are a natural mouse catcher and a little game of tug and war is good for them.As far as feed on the floor,all you have to do is every once in awhile delay feeding them and they will clean it up.I'm not a lazy person and especially when it comes to my chickens(ask my wife) but I've got better things to do than move the feeders twice a day.I do stay in the dog house with them and I use my time better.To each there own.As far as the mess is,That is part of it.I keep my coops clean,but not spotless.They take baths in dirt,wall in their own poo,eat off of the ground,Pick things out of their own poo,and Lord Knows what else.I take care of the basics and once a year spring clean.It's not going to kill them to live like chickens have for years.I do take care of them,but I also let them be chickens.To each their own

 

[Smithyard Farm]