How long can chickens go without food?

[nuthatched]

I don't have a ''feeder'' set up, I feed them in bowls and plates morning/evening and they free range in afternoon.

Get a feeder or dump it on the floor of the coop.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

We aint gonna see 10 foot. Down here in my 46 years the deepest snow I've ever seen was about 2 feet and thats an once or twice a lifetime thing. We don't get deep snow down here. It's mostly ice and they never are prepared for it. Power going out is a given, most of us bumpkins that have lived here our whole lives have generators.

I stocked up on feed for the farm and gas last week before the greedy pluck store owners jack the prices up. Right now they already reporting the brain dead are starting to try to clear grocery stores of bread and milk. Only thing I need to go buy is some beer.

My chooks have 50lbs of feed in bucket feeders and 50 gallons of heated water in their covered run their coop is attached to. I can lock them in there and they will be fine for about a week. I just need to gather eggs.

Yeah buddy! You're my kind of people! Great minds, I'm just saying!

 

[BDutch]

This is what I would do:
Buy snowboots, to be able to visit and check on the chickens.
Buy a waterer with a heat plate or heat system and maybe a very long cable?
Buy a silo for the feed to be sure they can always eat the basics.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Once again this is a major reason to have good feeders that not only hold a week or two of feed but hold it without waste and without theft. You pay for good feeders the minute you begin needing them. Get a treadle feeder and you won't have to worry about having a large amount of feed in the coop. You do need mostly medium size or larger hens and a wall or post to secure it to. No tiny birds either, nothing under a couple of pounds or it is not safe.

Stay warm everyone!

 

[BDutch]

Get a treadle feeder and you won't have to worry about having a large amount of feed in the coop.

I don’t think now is the right time to introduce a treadle feeder bc many chickens need to be trained to use them.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Obviously......

 

[BigBlueHen53]

They need food every day. They need fresh, unfrozen water every day. Without it, they will die.

 

[BDutch]

They need food every day. They need fresh, unfrozen water every day. Without it, they will die.

Chickens need drinkable water or food with lots of moisture in it. It doesn’t have to be fresh tap water every day. Just be sure it is not polluted/gone bad.

In winter I give fresh water in a bowl every 2 days (not frozen) and there is always a bottle with a nipple to drink from and a standard water container I refresh weekly. They are not especially interested to drink from the fresh tap water. But the moment they are left outside to free range they go to a outside bowl for a tasty drink with autumn leaves (extra minerals?). As if I opened a cocktail bar or announced happy hour.

Since my chickens prefer to drink from a bowl with old autumn leaves and a week old rain water, I don’t believe in the need of fresh tap water.
Btw, In summer when it’s real hot they like to stand in it and get fresh water 2x a day.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Chickens need drinkable water or food with lots of moisture in it. It doesn’t have to be fresh tap water every day. Just be sure it is not polluted/gone bad.

In winter I give fresh water in a bowl every 2 days (not frozen) and there is always a bottle with a nipple to drink from and a standard water container I refresh weekly. They are not especially interested to drink from the fresh tap water. But the moment they are left outside to free range they go to a outside bowl for a tasty drink with autumn leaves (extra minerals?). As if I opened a cocktail bar or announced happy hour.

Since my chickens prefer to drink from a bowl with old autumn leaves and a week old rain water, I don’t believe in the need of fresh tap water.
Btw, In summer when it’s real hot they like to stand in it and get fresh water 2x a day.

Yup they sure love mud puddles, dew drops and snow. If given the choice between a dripping rain gutter and water in the heated waterer, mine will always chose the gutter.

In the winter I make sure to test the nipple toggles in the morning, dump off and top off water as needed (usually once a week) and that's "good enough."

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Chickens need drinkable water or food with lots of moisture in it. It doesn’t have to be fresh tap water every day. Just be sure it is not polluted/gone bad.

In winter I give fresh water in a bowl every 2 days (not frozen) and there is always a bottle with a nipple to drink from and a standard water container I refresh weekly. They are not especially interested to drink from the fresh tap water. But the moment they are left outside to free range they go to a outside bowl for a tasty drink with autumn leaves (extra minerals?). As if I opened a cocktail bar or announced happy hour.

Since my chickens prefer to drink from a bowl with old autumn leaves and a week old rain water, I don’t believe in the need of fresh tap water.
Btw, In summer when it’s real hot they like to stand in it and get fresh water 2x a day.

My comment was intended to make sure they have liquid, UNFROZEN water available daily no matter how cold it gets.

ETA they cannot get sufficient moisture from snow and ice.