Food inside or outside?

[Kristina93]

Is it okay to keep the food and water outside for my chickens in the run instead of in the coop?

They will have constant access to their run. We won't be locking them in at night.

I know I need to worry about rain, but it doesn't rain here all that frequently and I plan on putting a cover over their run so that they won't get rained on.

other than weather, do I need to worry about anything else? If I can keep it outside, I can also use a much larger feeder and waterer which would be less upkeep for me as well.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I keep my food and water in the run. However, I lock up my chickens at night and let them out at DAYBREAK so they don't have to wait. When I go out, I hear not even a peep until I start making noise with my buckets.

I remove all feed at the end of the day after they have gone to bed and put it in a covered bucket in the garage. This is because rodents will eat it. Also it attracts predators such as raccoons etc.

I have found also that the morning dew gets my feeders wet unless I turn them upside down. This is even though they are under a shelter.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

I keep all my feeders and waterers in the runs. I have brought some of them inside the coops during severe weather though.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Oh I forgot to say that the reason I do what I do is that I was finding fuzzy mold under the waterer in the coops, and they were kicking the food around, causing it to get wet in the spilled water.

I did it for my chickens' health.

 

[Kristina93]

I'm hoping to put hanging feeders and waterers out there in the run. Our run will only be about 5' tall and 10' long, so I'm trying to maximize space. And while our coop would be big enough for somewhat larger feeders, it's really not 'that' big.

I guess part of it is me being sorta lazy... we go to bed late, and get up late. And I have two young children, ages 2 and 9 months, who need my attention before the animals do. Just the way it is. So, I'm looking to keep my chickens as low maintainance as possible.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Is your run predator proof with buried fencing and hardware cloth? What is your setup?

 

[Kristina93]

My run will be predator proof. It's not yet, but it will be. It will have hardware cloth on the bottom 3' and while it won't be buried, it will be secured to 2x4's that are butted up against the concrete walkway there. In order for any predator to get in, they would have to tunnel a minimum of 4-5' UNDER the concrete. We do get possums in the area, but we tend to trap them because they over run the neighborhood quickly. We re-locate them a couple miles away to an oil field. We get an occasional racoon, but I mean very occasional. We see evidence of them once every few months. No more than 3 or maybe 4 times a year.


I haven't taken pics of the area yet, mostly because my chicks are in a converted rabbit hutch at the moment and their coop is being built! I get to paint the inside tomorrow while my kids are napping.. hopefully.

We have an unusual set up. They are actually going to be butted up next to our house, under my kitchen window. We are giving up a flowerbed for them. Their coop is 3' by 4' by 6' tall. 2 stories inside. 2 nesting boxes for my 7 chickens (one which I think is a rooster...eek) Their run will be 3' wide by 10' long and about 5' high.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

That sounds great! If you are predator proof and you have your feeder HANGING, I would think maybe the mice would not eat much (if any) of the feed.

I live right next to a field and I see mice every day running through the large garden I use for a run- I couldn't get away with it.

If it were me, I would go for it. Try to notice whether your feed is getting damp or not- moldy feed can kill chickens. You could always keep a little bin there with a lid and put the feeder inside it for the night if you have problems.