Food/water in henhouse

[Want Less]

Do you keep food & water in your henhouse at night?

We have been, but our girls (9 weeks old) don't seem to pay it any mind. As soon as they are let out in the morning, they go straight for the food & water we keep outside. I know they know there is food in the henhouse because if the outside feeder is too crowded or hectic, one or two will go back into the henhouse to eat.

Is it normal for them to not eat/drink much at night?

 

[Dingleberry]

I do just for habit.

 

[TipsyDog]

I only have water in the coop. If your girls go out first thing in the morning, they'll probably prefer to eat outside in the run. I keep their food in the run along with fresh water too. In the winter months when it's very cold I keep the food inside the coop as well as water and a heated water bowl outside too.

I don't like to have food in the coop through the summer months because I don't want to attact mice into the coop. My girls pretty much just go into the coop to roost or lay, otherwise they always free range.

 

[snowflake]

I have food and water inside right now for my broody,just water for the others. If it is stormy I through a handful of scratch and boss on the floor for them they clean that up before going out. they free range and I have feed under cover outside.and a couple waterers.

 

[teach1rusl]

I typically keep food/water inside and outside the coop. They mostly use the indoor ones in the winter time. But now that it's warm, they don't use the indoor ones much.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I keep food inside, to keep it dry. I have water inside in the winter, where there's electricity to keep it unfrozen. In warm weather, I keep water inside and outside, to encourage drinking. People do it in different ways, for various reasons.

 

[Rennie]

I personally have water both inside and outside .. With teh feed however , I feed them outside in the morning when i let them out with no food inside .. and put food in the house before i lock them up just to tempt them back in .. It all gets eaten no matter how much i put in

 

[fiberart57]

I have a playhouse coop with a house that's raised two feet off the ground and the underneath is part of the run. So the house proper is big enough for them to sleep in at night, lay their eggs and do a bit of roaming, but not much else. The run attached to the house is covered so I keep food and water under the house and only put water in the house in the summer. I don't trust a heated bowl in the house, too afraid of fire.

Mostly, mine go in the house to lay their eggs and sleep. They sip at the water in the house from time to time; I'll change a gallon waterer about every four days and I probably lose some to evaporation but there's still some left in there. Mostly they drink out of the waterer in their yard and eat in the run. The feeder is hung up from the bottom of the house so mice and other vermin have a hard time. They have a hard time getting in; the whole thing is enclosed in hardware cloth.

If your chickens spend a lot of time in their house, they'll need at least their waterer. Water is essential to them. I have bowls of it throughout the yard so they don't have to travel far for a drink.

Mary

 

[Want Less]

Thank you everyone for your replies! So it looks like I can go either way with this. I think I'll just leave a small waterer in the house for them and not worry with much else since they don't seem to be interested in anything in the house anyway.