Where to keep their food

MissyPowell

In the Brooder
Sep 9, 2018
7
8
11
I'm just wondering where everyone keeps their chickens food? I had mine in the coop but it was taking up quite a bit of room so I moved it to the run. I'm nervous that it might attract raccoons, fox, bears, or coyotes. The run is covered with half inch hardware cloth, there's hardware cloth buried around it, and the door is padlocked. I'm wondering if I should just take the food in at night. Thank you in advance.
 
I keep my feed and yard tools (rakes, shovels, etc) in a shed that is a few feet from the chicken run. I was lazy once and left a bag out by the coop. That was a total no go. The chickens pecked the bag in the day time, deer tried raiding it at night, and it got wet somehow. Just a total mess. Locked up in the shed always is the way to go.
 
I keep my dry feeder in the coop, mostly to protect from rain. My fermented feed goes in bowls in the run (since it's wet, I don't want the wet food inside). At night the bowls are brought in and cleaned and the dry feeder goes in a metal trash can under a overhang outside the run.

In the past I've had rodents in the run that would go after the feed, so no food out at night for me!
 
I have only 4BO, feed comes in only 50# bags here .... I divide a bag into 6-7 2 gal freezer zip lock bags, in the freezer. Humidity here is horrible. I defrost as I need, takes a day of air drying in the garage. I ferment their feed & do not leave any out at night, they get fed 7am, replenish their bowl around 1pm & at close up they get 1/8 cup dry feed & mealworms tossed on the ground to scratch around.
 
I have two large feeders and several small feeders around the run. I put all the feeders away in metal trash cans with lids at night, and my bulk feed is in a trash can of its own. All the cans are outside the run and I don't keep feed in the coop. Last year during rainy season I did have one feeder inside the coop during the day, but I am hoping my run will be dry enough this year that I won't have to.

My birds prefer crumble and do make a mess, so I could potentially end up with rats if my run weren't secure. I'm still working on finding every little hole and securing it.
 
I keep the feed in a spare room near the back door in my house in the original bag. I take out what I need in a container to fill the feeders in 2 coops.
I feed dry in Galvanized feeders that stay in secured raised coops 24/7. 20181021_091815.jpg . GC
 

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