Water and food in the coop?

[michelleo]

We have a small coop with attached run, i am planning on putting the water and feed in the attached run, but now am wondering if they need water in the coop too?

They will be closed in the coop overnight and have access to both areas during the day, right now they are still in the brooder.

Thanks in advance, from a very new chicken momma.

 

[alyssaplavigne]

I'm receiving day old chicks on May 21 and from what I've seen most coops have the water and food in the coop. I'm not an experienced owner but from the research I have done they are best not to be kept from food and water sources. Good luck!!

 

[Den in Penn]

They shouldn't be drinking or eating while its dark and they are sleeping. If you are going to be late leaving them out then they should at least have water available.

 

[TheEggCollecter]

I keep both water and feed in coop. Wild birds and animals could eat\drink and transmit disease that way.

 

[WitchyAng]

We also keep feed and water in the coop. Plenty of folks claim this practice might attract rodents but so far so good! Our "coop" is a renovated corn crib on a cement slab...new walls and flooring all sealed up tight (with ventilation up high.)
An honest observation: we've always kept the feed and water inside and we seem to have finicky chickens, in terms of going outside. They don't want to go out into their run if it's too windy, rainy or snowy! Perhaps if they HAD to go out for feed or water this behavior might change? However, in WI we have freezing temps INSIDE the coop in winter, so keeping water from freezing is a challenge.

 

[michelleo]

Thanks so much for the input, we have a smaller coop, so I may put a smaller feeder & waterer in the coop and leave my large ones in the run. Love this community!

 

[RonP]

I have a 50 square foot coop with 12 layers, some retired. I keep layer pellets and oyster shell feeders in the coop 24/7. I also have a Galvanized 2 gallon Double-Wall Poultry water container sitting on a homemade water heater 24/7 in the coop. The heater turns on and off with a thermo cube.

Their outside run is around 150 square feet. There I also have an open container constructed from cutting the bottom 5" of a 5 gallon water jug. This rests elevated inside the outside run, on a board next to the fencing. I dump fresh water through the fence into this container every day or two. It seems to last 3 days if not filled. This is very easy to do from outside the run.

The birds spend most of their waking hours outside digging holes in their 2 foot deep litter consisting mostly of shredded leaves and wood chips, I have a lot of trees on my property. I also put the wood shavings that I remove from the inside coop floor once a year into the outside run, and all table scraps, weeds, grass cuttings, scratch, etc. Most anything biodegradable, gets dumped in the outside run. The run is 5+ years old. The bottom ~12" of the run is pure black compost. As that level rises, it gets kicked out from the birds, or washed out through the 1/2 hardware fencing. No odor, ever. No thoughts of ever having to clean the run out.

Their inside waterer will last a week or more during the warmer months, 3 or 4 days when the birds refuse to go outside due to snow on the ground. This year, they spent weeks inside. We had unusual extreme weather for New Jersey.

Access to water is critical.

Hope this helps.

 

[jtbass2756]

We have a small coop with attached run, i am planning on putting the water and feed in the attached run, but now am wondering if they need water in the coop too?

They will be closed in the coop overnight and have access to both areas during the day, right now they are still in the brooder.

Thanks in advance, from a very new chicken momma.

I still consider myself a newbie and I've had my ladies for almost a year. But I keep my food and water in the coop but I keep it hanging at their neck lever. Cuts down on their wasting the food and I also turned a funnel upside down and forced the chain thru the small end and then hung it. It slides down to cover the feed and keeps rodents from running the chain to feed.. I have an open coop that was given to me so I have to do it this way. My new coop will be elevated somewhat and I will still keep food/water hanging inside the coop but will also hang my water under the coop to keep it as cool as possible and accessible to them especially during the warmer days.. Have fun.

 

[ZoeS95423]

In the spring thru summer, I keep the water outside, I have ducks with my chickens and it just keeps things cleaner, plus its easier to spray out when its already outside.
I feed them in the morning when I let them out but only keep feed inside.
I know ducks and geese have to have water with their food, but I don't keep it from from their house. I use a hanging feeder inside along with a trough along the wall, and if its raining out I don't want their feed to get wet.

 

[michelleo]

Thanks for all the input, i have decided for now, to put a small waterer (hanging type with chicken nipples) in the coop and food and water in the run.