Water and feed set up...

[Panhandler80]

I have an 8 x 8 coop that will house 15 hens. Attached to it will be a roughly 450 square foot fully-enclosed run, about half of which will have a solid roof. The roofed section of the run will be farthest uphill and will terminate under the drip edge of the coop roof. Run roof water will be collected in gutter and and discharged down hill past the run. Coop roof water will be collected in a 30 gallon drum and sent to water cups. Once it fills to top, excess water will be sent downhill past run as well.

Questions:

1. Where all should I place watering cups? In coop as well as run? How many total? Should the be scattered about, or primarily in one place? One place will making plumbing a little easier.

2. I plan to make a couple of these for feeding. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...lon-25-feed-bucket-feeder-for-about-3.834227/ Plan on using some buckets a bit larger than traditional 5 gallon buckets. Any reason I can't put 2 or three of these elbows around the perimeter of bucket? Should I have one inside the coop as well as outside? Should there be multiple outside the coop?

 

[Mtnboomer]

The chickens will only be in the coop to lay or sleep. During which they do not feed or drink. So it would not be necessary to put either in the coop. However, if you plan to lock them up for extended periods of time such as on vacation, out of town, or you just forget to let them out, it wouldn't hurt to have water inside and a place to put a feeder when you need it.
Fewer feed stations may help with rodent control as there will be less access to feed, but 15 hens would need at least 3-4 feeders.
The construction of that type feeder should allow up to 3 points of access without compromising integrity of the bucket.
Providing water to that many hens, i would have at least 4-5 points of access. You could also look into using rain gutters or pvc as watering troughs instead of cups. Either cut a slit the length of the pvc or just multiple holes every 12-16" apart. Add a sump and a small pump and you can circulate water back into the rain barrel and the water stays fresh and oxygenated.

 

[Panhandler80]

Keeping water oxygenated... would my idea of a barrel catching roof water and then gravity feeding PVC with inserted cups not work?

 

[Mtnboomer]

Keeping water oxygenated... would my idea of a barrel catching roof water and then gravity feeding PVC with inserted cups not work?

If it gravity feeds into cups it will have oxygen in it but rate of consumption will need to be sufficient to keep the water moving. Otherwise the water sits in the rain barrel and does not move very much which cause it to become "stale" , lose its oxygen, over time. Especially when periods of low/no rain are encountered to refill the barrel.
We experienced a 3mo drought last summer here in va with not a drop of rain. My rain barrels were down to their last few gallons. The water had yellowed a bit and began to have an odor. I drained them and watered the flock from the garden hose.
Its not necessary to keep the water oxygenated "fresh" when it is used quickly enough or frequent rains refill the barrel, but water born parasites, bacteria, etc can, and i emphasize can, not that they will, grow in stale water.

 

[Panhandler80]

10-4. If we go more than a few days without rain here it's an oddity. Could always just put a spigot in bottom of barrel and if we have a drought, drain the barrel and fill with hose. Heck, do that on occasion just for the heck of it.

 

[Mtnboomer]

10-4. If we go more than a few days without rain here it's an oddity. Could always just put a spigot in bottom of barrel and if we have a drought, drain the barrel and fill with hose. Heck, do that on occasion just for the heck of it.

The spigot would also allow you to control the rate of flow to the cups and reduce potential overflows

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Are there any trees around the run or water collection gutters?
Debris from the trees will likely clog the drinker cup valves at a minimum and at worst, algae and other toxins may be a problem without a good filtration system.

 

[ColoradoPip]

I like this waterer idea, you could attach the hose to your rain barrel

Here is the one I made. The bucket will sit outside the coop to conserve space and be easy to fill.

 

[Panhandler80]

Are there any trees around the run or water collection gutters?
Debris from the trees will likely clog the drinker cup valves at a minimum and at worst, algae and other toxins may be a problem without a good filtration system.

No trees in immediate vicinity... pretty common around here these days.

https://myfox8.com/news/one-year-la...-struggles-to-recover-from-hurricane-michael/
"This debris removal operation that cities and the counties are participating in, it’s the largest single civilian operated debris removal program in the history of the U.S "