I plan to do the water nipple system and am curious on where to put both the water and food? Should it go in the coop so they can go back in during the day and get it? Outside the coop, but what about at night? Both? I am also gonna set up some sort of auto feeder to(not sure if just the bucket or pvc pipe). Just curious what the running thoughts are on this
I have food and water in the coop and in the run, so the ladies can choose where to dine! My DH welded an aluminum tube in the bottom of the feeder into which I have slipped the handle of an open umbrella to keep the feed from getting wet if it rains.
Seems to be two schools of thought on this at BYC and it all comes down to personal preference and the best way to manage your own flock/coop/run setup. I chose to only provide water in the run. Feed and water in the coop. I saw so many posts from folks who were having trouble getting the youngsters to go up/down the ramp and put themselves to bed at night when they first went into the coop. I reasoned keeping their food in the coop would provide a good motivation for going in there throughout the day and at bedtime. (I also provided a light) Maybe it was luck or coincidence, but I can tell you that I only had to put my 5 week old girls back into the coop on the first night they were released to the run. Thereafter, they did it themselves. Feed in the coop only solved a couple other issues for me, too...keeping feed dry and not attracting mice/rats/squirrels to get inside the run at night.
