From Chicks to Juveniles - Feeding Help!

[burbankchix]

Hi fellow chicken lovers, we're entering the end of our 7th week, and are within a week of adding big feeders. Now here is our question. We have a large waterer and feeder ready to go. Do we hang these just inside our coop or do we need another hanging feeder in the run? I believe it's just for in the coop, which they have access to all day besides the run. We normally move all the chick feeders into the coop at night. We do have a water line with an automatic fill bowl in the run, so we don't have to worry about that. Can some of you more experienced BYC raisers give us some good advise.

 

[Mahonri]

I feed both in the coop via hanging feeder and in the run. and I have an auto fill waterer hooked to a hose just outside the run and a galvanzied waterer in the coop that I have to fill every 2 to 3 days.

 

[burbankchix]

Thanks for the info. We have a 4x7' coop and a 8x12' run. The run has the auto fill bowl in it. Do you take your run feed in at night so bugs, etc. don't get in? We aren't too worried about inside, but I'm wondering if leaving a handing feeder out in the run is a good idea? Any clue? Thanks for your previous help!

 

[saladin]

Folks do things differently which is one of the great things about raising your own birds.

Personally, excepting the first six weeks of life, I do not like feed before the birds all day. I feed the amount they need once a day and that's it. The remainder of the time they are left to be out on the yard hunting and pecking.

The only excepting I make to this is during pear and pumpkin season. I keep buckets of pears in the coop this time of year and pumpkins in the fall and winter. The pumpkins give them something to do in the winter months without them getting fat.

You can still use the hanging feeders if you want, but I'd only put the feed they need in it daily. For an adult bird that is 4 ounces of high quality feed.

 

[JodyJo]

I do not keep water and feed in the coop...in the winter I do, so they don't have to brave the sub zero temps here in Colorado. The run is connected and they have food and water hanging out there 24/7. My larger ones free range all day, I feed them first off in the AM and then at night they have free feed.