Food/water in coop

[Crazyfarmlady25]

During the summer and fall so far I have put a waterer and feeder in their coop at night and then they would be moved to the run during the day. Now that we're going to start getting our cold winter weather I'm wondering if can or need to do this still? I live in Iowa and our winter can be cold (wind chills in the negative with a high of single degrees) or warm (above 33 degrees during the day) and some winters we get lots of snow others we get one or two snow storms that we barely get any snow. Wanting to get their feed into pvc pipes but haven't gotten to that yet so just have one of those small plastic hanging feeders so I know once get the pvc pipes won't be putting food in the coop at night but not sure if they even need water in the coop.

 

[K0k0shka]

That's a lot of unnecessary work, moving the food and water every day. You can make your life easier by just leaving the food in the coop permanently, and the water in the run permanently. Food is safer in the coop both during the day and night, as it's harder for wildlife or pests to get to it. The chickens can go inside to eat during the day, they don't need the food to be moved every day. And water isn't a good idea in the coop because of the potential for spilling and wetting the bedding, and frostbite in the winter when the evaporating water raises the humidity inside the coop, which can condense and freeze on surfaces, including on the chickens' exposed fleshy bits. So water is best kept outside. You'll need a heated waterer of some sort, whether it's inside or outside the coop, to prevent freezing. If you have an auto door, or manually let the chickens out every morning, then they don't need food or water in the coop (they don't eat or drink when it's dark, because they can't see). Keeping the food inside is just to protect it from other animals, and from getting wet.

 

[RubelliteRose]

Chickens can't see well even in very dim light, so they don't need food and water in the coop as long as they can get out into the run around sunrise. A big disadvantage to having food in the coop, especially in the winter, is that it will attract mice and rats into your coop. Getting rid of an infestation once it starts can be...challenging
Do you have a heated waterer for winter? We usually don't have very many days below freezing here, but in the low 20s - upper teens, our water bowls will start to freeze over within an hour.

 

[K0k0shka]

A big disadvantage to having food in the coop, especially in the winter, is that it will attract mice and rats into your coop. Getting rid of an infestation once it starts can be...challenging

Having food in the run is worse though, when it comes to pests. Coops are usually more secure than runs, and if done properly, should be rodent proof. Runs, on the other hand, often are not. If food sits in the run, it will attract mice and rats, who will find it easier to get into the run than in the coop. It may help if the food is removed from the run at night, as rats and mice are mostly nocturnal, but 1) that's still a lot of work moving the food twice a day, and 2) rats and mice are MOSTLY, not fully nocturnal, meaning they can be active at other times as well, especially once they figure out at what times of the day/night their food source is available. They'll wait for you to bring out the feed in the morning, and will pig out after you walk away. And once they've figured out how to get into the run, then even if you move the food inside the coop, they'll just walk in through the pop door. So it's best to not draw them to the run at all. If the food is only inside the coop to begin with, they may not find it there if they have to go into the run first, and find the pop door - if the coop itself is rodent-proof everywhere else. Removing the food entirely at night is still the safest bet, but it still has to sit somewhere during the day, so if you had to choose between inside the coop vs. out in the run, leaving it inside the coop is the better option to avoid drawing animals to it during the day.

 

[Crazyfarmlady25]

Chickens can't see well even in very dim light, so they don't need food and water in the coop as long as they can get out into the run around sunrise. A big disadvantage to having food in the coop, especially in the winter, is that it will attract mice and rats into your coop. Getting rid of an infestation once it starts can be...challenging
Do you have a heated waterer for winter? We usually don't have very many days below freezing here, but in the low 20s - upper teens, our water bowls will start to freeze over within an hour.

Right now no heater for our waterer but looking to get one soon. Once I get the pvc pipe feeders made and installed the food will not be in the coop and I'm going to start leaving the waterer out in the run.

 

[Ridgerunner]

For their own reasons some people feed and/or water in the coop only, some feed and/or water in the run only, and some feed and/or water in both. I don't see any of these as right or wrong, mainly personal opinion as to what works best for the individual. Since we all have different set-ups and management techniques certain things may work better for one person than another.

I have food and water both in the coop and in the run. I almost always have juveniles in the flock so I want multiple food and water stations so the juveniles do not get bullied off of the the food or water. I sometimes sleep in a bit and do not get down there at daybreak to open the pop door early so I want them to have food and water available when they wake up.

It sounds like you have made your decision. Great. Hopefully that works out for you.

 

[RubelliteRose]

Removing the food entirely at night is still the safest bet

This is what we do with our food. It is so humid here that we only feed a little more than what our flock eats each day. Any more than a couple of days worth of food molds too quickly. We learned that lesson early
Our mouse infestation started when we switched to gravity feeders after our broody hatched her chicks. The chicks couldn't reach into the bucket feeders that we were using. My chickens are appallingly messy eaters so the mice were feasting on dropped crumble until we started setting the feeders into large rubber feed pans. We had to place snap traps around the run every night to finally clear out all the mice. The chickens were not allowed in the run until after the traps were picked up in the morning. They were not happy about this

Since we all have different set-ups and management techniques certain things may work better for one person than another.

Yes, this! You will need to figure out what works best for you and your flock and it will probably change over time. Our current food and water set up is completely different than what we started with and in a couple of years, may completely change again.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Right now no heater for our waterer but looking to get one soon. Once I get the pvc pipe feeders made and installed the food will not be in the coop and I'm going to start leaving the waterer out in the run.

Curious. Where will you install the PVC feeders, if not in the coop?

We have two 5-gal buckets with PVC ports for feeders. We keep these in the run during the day. DH picks them up and locks them in the wellhouse at night, and carries them back out to the run in the morning. It is no hardship to do this. There is no room in the coop for these, and leaving them out all night would turn them into feeding stations for all kinds of varmints, up to and including opossums.

Water buckets remain outside all night. In the winter we use heated buckets.

 

[Crazyfarmlady25]

Curious. Where will you install the PVC feeders, if not in the coop?

We have two 5-gal buckets with PVC ports for feeders. We keep these in the run during the day. DH picks them up and locks them in the wellhouse at night, and carries them back out to the run in the morning. It is no hardship to do this. There is no room in the coop for these, and leaving them out all night would turn them into feeding stations for all kinds of varmints, up to and including opossums.

Water buckets remain outside all night. In the winter we use heated buckets.

Our pvc pipe feeders would be in the run (our run is cattle panels with hardware cloth) We only have 3 hens and 6 pullets that could start laying soon. No rooster so no need to worry about babies. If I get new chicks won't be til next spring.

 

[Bawkbok]

Water buckets remain outside all night. In the winter we use heated buckets.

In your experience have you found that leaving water out at night in the run attracts critters? Since we are in a moderate drought already, everything is thirsty and I've been hauling the water in nightly along with the food. It means two trips in the morning because I don't have enough hands for the feed, the waterer, the jug of water and the OS -- which would get wet overnight due to the extreme humidity so that is also brought inside. I would love to leave the waterer out but I thought it might be an issue. We are now having a rat / mice issue for the first time. Thoughts?