Water and feed in the coop

[Drcallen]

I do not have water or feeders in my coop. I bought the grandpa feeder to keep mice etc out and I have a large nipple waterer and a galvanized waterer with heating to keep the water from freezing. Last year i fought mice a little bit, got rid of all of them as far as I can tell since I tore down all the old coop and cleaned and replaced it with a beautiful coop made from a shed company. I also have a chicken wire fence around it with bird netting to keep out other issues such as cats and hawks and owls.
I love the new coop and have it decorated in side with curtains on the windows and little sings with sayings and a picture. A mirror and a xylophone is outside on the run and the girls love that. I have four girls (Rhode Island red and white mix) that will be two in a month, and I have a full Rhode Island Red and a Buff Brahma that will be one year in a month. (6 total).

I have not put any water or food in it as of yet. I can lock the girls in at night. I also have a chicken heater inside that keeps them warm if the weather is cold. I let them roam free in the backyard during the day if the weather is nice and the hawks are not around which is most of the time. In the yard I have a water feeder and two swings and two places to roost. Lots of bushes for ground cover that I understand is safe for them. My favorite thing is how they come running as soon as I walk out the door and they know their names and they sit on my lap while I swing and they love treats out of my hand. I give them fresh vegetables and melons often.
My question is does anyone keep the nipple waterers and the grandpa feeders inside the coop for bad weather? My goal is to continue to keep out unwanted critters.
Thank you for any feedback.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Put them where they make sense for your set up. For me, dry feed is inside the coop to keep it dry and to deter rodents. Wet feed is outside to keep the mess outside (and it gets eaten first thing in the morning). Waterer is outside to ensure the coop stays dry inside, plus I don't have electricity in the coop so it's far easier to run a cord into the run to power the heated waterer in winter.

 

[Drcallen]

Put them where they make sense for your set up. For me, dry feed is inside the coop to keep it dry and to deter rodents. Wet feed is outside to keep the mess outside (and it gets eaten first thing in the morning). Waterer is outside to ensure the coop stays dry inside, plus I don't have electricity in the coop so it's far easier to run a cord into the run to power the heated waterer in winter.

Thank you.

 

[Drcallen]

Thank you.

 

[Sally PB]

Right now I have food in the coop and water in the run. Around the first of April, I'll move the food out to the run.

I don't want water in the coop to keep humidity down and avoid spills. As it warms up, they don't spend much time in the coop anyway, so everything can be out in the run. It's covered, so things stay dry.

 

[Drcallen]

Right now I have food in the coop and water in the run. Around the first of April, I'll move the food out to the run.

I don't want water in the coop to keep humidity down and avoid spills. As it warms up, they don't spend much time in the coop anyway, so everything can be out in the run. It's covered, so things stay dry.

Thank you for your information.

 

[Drcallen]

Thank you for your information. Unfortunately the run is not covered that I have. It does have bird netting over it to keep out the hawks.

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't like food and water in the coop. It takes up space and gets dumped.

My current run isn't roofed, so I asked DH to build me a feeder/waterer shelter:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-feed-and-water-shelter.1426654/#post-23481803

 

[Sally PB]

@Drcallen, If you don't have the time or material to build something as nice as what @3KillerBs shows in her post above, you can use a big plastic tote on its side to accomplish pretty much the same thing.

That's what I did for a little while before I had a cover over the run. I put a heavy rock in the tote to keep it from getting knocked over, and had it positioned so that the bottom of the tote (the "back" when it's tipped on its side) was to the prevailing wind.

 

[3KillerBs]

@Drcallen, If you don't have the time or material to build something as nice as what @3KillerBs shows in her post above, you can use a big plastic tote on its side to accomplish pretty much the same thing.

That's what I did for a little while before I had a cover over the run. I put a heavy rock in the tote to keep it from getting knocked over, and had it positioned so that the bottom of the tote (the "back" when it's tipped on its side) was to the prevailing wind.

Thank you for calling that nice.

By my DH's standards it's a cobbled-together, temporary structure and I admit that it's a bit of an eyesore in the yard.