# Feed and water.



## velocityoflove (Apr 5, 2014)

So I am very new to chickens. The boyfriend and I were talking about the idea of getting some for a long time u til recently he surprised me with some baby chicks! I got a giant book about them, have been researching, and am building them a coop with a large run.
My question is should they always have food and water inside of the coop or outside of it or both if we plan on closing the door of the coop at night? This may be a silly simple question but I realize nothing I've read really specifies.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

They should always have water, they won't drink after dark but they are awake long before you. Food depends on your set up and what you feed, and personal preference.

I feed fermented food so my birds get meals. In the winter they have scratch available all times. Baby chicks also have crumb available to them at all times. During the summer however, my hens are not fed free choice, they get their breakfast, they go out free ranging, I throw scraps out for them during the day, and at supper time I feed them another meal. They have calcium available at all times for supplementation.


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## Hollowmoon (Apr 5, 2014)

Hi! Welcome to the chicken family what I usually do is in the morning I fill the feeder with food, fill the water and let them out. If you are not free ranging your hens then at night you should close the door. If you do free range then it depends on your location. If you know that there are many coyotes and fixed and raccoons then I would close the door but if not i wouldn't worry about it. Oh and chicks should always have food and water! Have fun with them! 


~Olivia


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## Hollowmoon (Apr 5, 2014)

Foxes*


~Olivia


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## pypy_chicks (Mar 14, 2014)

I guess I'm just an early bird so it works out but I remove the water jars from my newborn chicks (under 2 weeks) at night I have had a few fiascos where a few get wet and I lost a few chicks due to them not drying ( I do have a heater and a heat lamp in room btw) so I would rather not risk it all of my chicks drink from the little jars or plastic containers I haven't had money to buy nipples for my outside chickens but I plan on giving them bottles of water when I get that done until then I just make it a point to wake up early to feed them and give them fresh water . 


Current flock: 106


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## velocityoflove (Apr 5, 2014)

The chicks are currently indoors in a big tank with a heat lamp until they get their feathers. The door will be closed at night because I know there are coyotes and opossums and such. They cant be free range because we have dogs who wouldnt do well with them but im going to give them as large an area as possible for the run.
Is it easier to just have the food and water in the coop, or would it be good to have water both inside and out, and have food outside just during the day?


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## Hollowmoon (Apr 5, 2014)

What I do is I have the food inside so that it is not exposed to the elements. 


~Olivia


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## Hollowmoon (Apr 5, 2014)

And I think it is easier, at least with my coop set-up


~Olivia


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