Water & food

[worms7]

Do you have to keep water in your
Coop/shed over night or can i keep
Food in shed water in run
Cheers Phil

 

[dragonthehunter]

I would suggest keeping the water and food in the coop so they have access to it all night

 

[wamtazlady]

I keep my water and food in the run all the time. Chickens sleep at night. They don't wake up for a midnight snack. If you have problems with rodents you should remove all food from the coop or the run every night.

 

[azygous]

Chickens do not need food and water in the coop, just in the run. However, if you do not have a run, then of course the food and water need to be in the coop.

As has been pointed out, chickens don't eat and drink at night. When it gets dark, they sleep. When it gets light, they wake and go out into the run to eat and drink. My chickens rarely spend time in the coops unless they're in there to lay eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Your question is “do you need to?”, need being the operative word. As Azygous kind of pointed out, it depends.

If it is dark in the coop at night the chickens will not eat or drink. If they have enough light they probably will. That light could be from something you put in there or from an outside light, such as a street lamp or security light. They don’t need to eat at night, it’s best if they are in the dark from a few different perspectives. They need their dark down time but some get light anyway and do OK.

When the chickens wake up they will be hungry and thirsty. If you leave them locked up in the coop for a fair period after they wake up, the food and water should be in the coop. If they can get to it in the run, it can be in the run. I don’t have a magic number for how long after sunrise you need to let them out to get to food and water in the run, I’ll just say the sooner the better.

Some people feed and/or water in the coop. Some feed and/or water in the run. I do both. We all have our own reasons. I almost always have younger chickens in the flock so I set up multiple feeding and watering stations, in the coop and outside. With food and water in the coop, if I want to sleep in a bit instead of getting down there early to open their door I can.

There are many ways to do this, decide what works best in your situation.

 

[Little Fuzzy]

I keep food and water in my coop. I have an auto door that doesn't open till 8am. The chickens seem to be quieter when locked in the coop,as soon as their out in the run they start asking to be let out to free range, and I don't want my neighbors annoyed.