Should I have water and feed in the coop? Pro's & Con's

[raymaratea]

I am designing my new coop & run build for this spring. It will be a 6x6 coop with a 12x20 run attached. Should I have the feed and water in the coop or the run. What is the best? I tend to lean towards the coop being just for roosting with no water or feed. What are your thoughts? Thanks

I have been raising Chickens since I was about twelve or thirteen. Of "primary importance" is that yjour coop be built very tight to eliminate any possibility of Rodents entering it. Mine is designed that way. A field mouse can squeeze through a hole about 1/2" square so I have heard. I don't have any holes that wide at all. Secondly, I have never fed chickens outdoors with the exception of Cabbage leaves, Wheat Berries and Meal Worms. Inside I have an old refrigerator produce drawer that I place dry feed in so they have to climb in and scratch to their hearts content with little or no dry feed getting on the Coop floor. Most important of all, ninety-nine percent of my feeding is "Wet". I have a collection of Quart Containers and in the coop I place two, one with wet laying pellets and the other with "Fermented Corn". For the most part, chickens eating Corn is a myth. But if you keep a 2.5 gallon pail on hand and put about six or seven cups of dry corn in it and then at three tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar and fill with water, in about three days it will begin to show signs of fermentation taking place. I go to the extreme in making my own Apple Cider Vinegar using five gallon food grade pails and keeping about eight gallons on hand at all times. The idea behind using the Quart containers is that they cannot get into them with their feet and scratch away, scattering the feed all over the place. Also, serving wet feed means they drink less water. I have been doing this for years and believe me it is easy. Keep a couple of plastic gallons on hand in which to mix the Apple Cider Vinegar and water. Use wire lath wherever there is an opening to seal it off and do not leave any areas in the Coop where Mice can make themselves comfortable. Keep Coop elevated off the ground to discourage nesting by mice, rats, etc
Ray C. Maratea.

 

[chero lyr]

I am designing my new coop & run build for this spring. It will be a 6x6 coop with a 12x20 run attached. Should I have the feed and water in the coop or the run. What is the best? I tend to lean towards the coop being just for roosting with no water or feed. What are your thoughts? Thanks

I keep feed and water in the coop because:
-My run is not weather proof, nor totally predator proof.
-We get some wicked weather, wild wind and feet of snow, there can be days on end that they don't spend much time outside.
-I use early morning supplemental lighting and they need to eat and drink way before they could go outside.
-Easier, and safer, for powering heated waterer.
-Feed is stored inside large shed that houses coop, so it's just easier for me the keeper.

Do not forget to make your coop easily accessible for you the keeper as well as for what the birds need.

Spill proof feeder keeps rodents at bay, as well as always set snap traps.
Horizontal Nipple waterer just about eliminates spills and evaporation issues.

I am designing my new coop & run build for this spring. It will be a 6x6 coop with a 12x20 run attached. Should I have the feed and water in the coop or the run. What is the best? I tend to lean towards the coop being just for roosting with no water or feed. What are your thoughts? Thanks

I keep mine only in the run for a couple reasons. I live where the weather is good all the time so the girls never have reason to be in the coop except for roosting and laying. When we do get rain, part of the run is weather proof so it stays dry(and shaded in the summer sun). Also, the run is predator proof so the coop door stays open all the time. They're not dependent on me to let them out in the morning or lock them in at night. Keep that in mind when you build your coop. It's great not to have them depend on you to let them out at the crack of dawn!

 

[pvbtyler]

I am designing my new coop & run build for this spring. It will be a 6x6 coop with a 12x20 run attached. Should I have the feed and water in the coop or the run. What is the best? I tend to lean towards the coop being just for roosting with no water or feed. What are your thoughts? Thanks

This thread was so helpful! I will be transitioning my first 5 chicks from the brooder to their coop and run in 3 weeks. We are in North Florida so don't have severe winter issues, but have still been trying to decide where we should locate the feed and water. Thank you for asking and for all the great replies.

 

[Kim95037]

I'm in northern California. In the summer time I keep the food outside. In the winter time I put it in the coop because the moisture from all of the rain in the run will cause the food that spills out onto the ground to get moldy. I had to scrape it all off of the ground one year, it was a gooey disgusting mess. I keep the water outside, they have three different waterers that I made out of coolers with nipples so the water stays nice and clean. I also keep it in the shade so it stays relatively cool in the summer. I did have a problem this past year, (1st time in my ten years of keeping chickens) with mice. That took a while to remedy, I think because we had so much rain, it drove them all into a dry place that had food. I do elevate their food dishes up about 4" off of the ground on top of some pavers to minimize the amount of shavings and other stuff that gets kicked around from getting into the food. Sometimes I will put water in the coop in the summertime if I have a stubborn broody chicken (like a silkie) to make sure they dont dehydrate themselves while they are trying to hatch the hay.....

 

[aart]

they have three different waterers that I made out of coolers with nipples so the water stays nice and clean.

Do you have a thread or article with the details of these?

 

[Kim95037]

I have some pictures I could post. Just built a couple more for some freinds of mine. Heres a couple of pics of the smaller one. I'll take a picture of my larger one later today. I just took some coolers and drilled some holes in the bottom and put the nipples in. It was little tricky because the bottom of the cooler is about 3/8 of an inch thick so I had to put some food grade plastic tubing in with some epoxy about an inch long, and then glue the nipples into the tubes. I put this on an adjustable shelf so I could adjust it as I need to. The coolers work well because it keeps the water enclosed and somewhat cool. I do make sure they are in the shade tho especially in the summer time. I guess if there is a ton of interest maybe I could be more specific with the directions.........Its been a lifesaver tho, never have to worry about them running out of water, and most importantly it keeps it nice and CLEAN...

 

[aart]

I guess if there is a ton of interest maybe I could be more specific with the directions

I'm sure folks would be interested, but it should be in a separate thread and better yet an article.

 

[Kim95037]

I agree. Maybe when I get some time I can put an article together.

 

[Jedstar]

I am designing my new coop & run build for this spring. It will be a 6x6 coop with a 12x20 run attached. Should I have the feed and water in the coop or the run. What is the best? I tend to lean towards the coop being just for roosting with no water or feed. What are your thoughts? Thanks

To have feed outside just build a little tin roof stand thing to stop the rain wetting the feed. But the chooks can go under it and eat.

 

[Oolala]

I used to leave food and water in the coop but the water dish was spilled or filled with straw and wood shaving every day and rats eventually dug their way in to eat the feed and tey to nest in there so I dont have anythjng jn their coop any more. They are able to go out into their run as it is completely predator proof but again leaving feed out so they had something for the morning attracted the rats again so I only leave water out for them now and put the grain dish away each night, they have a good feed before bedtime which is fine until the morning when they are let out to free range and are given grain again. I used to scatter it on the ground but that again will attract the rats if it is not all eaten by nightfall, although the wild birds do a good job of helping themselves to it.