Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: brookieme on June 16, 2014, 15:03
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Hi all,
I have been told that I need to take the chickens food and water out of their coop at night to stop mice etc.
Is this ok to do? My chickens drink a lot of water during the day. Will they be ok without through the night?
Any helpful advice greatly received. I am new to this chicken keeping ;)
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They don't need food or water at night - they should all be sleeping then so yes do remove them :)
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Of course silly me :lol:
I do have a feeder that hangs from the centre of the coop on string. It is quite high off the ground at pecking height.
Will I need to take that out or am I thinking mice wouldn't be able to get the food.
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Our feeders were al hanging ones and we never took them out at night. Bit of a phaff when we had 300 chickens! lol
But water was always kept outside as less mess if its knocked over.
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Of course silly me :lol:
I do have a feeder that hangs from the centre of the coop on string. It is quite high off the ground at pecking height.
Will I need to take that out or am I thinking mice wouldn't be able to get the food.
What about rats? They could reach :ohmy:
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I don't think rats could get in!
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they shouldnt really have food/water in the coop generally - better to keep it in the run.
I leave mine out at night in the summer, and take it in during winter to stop the water freezing/prevent rats. The rats are hungrier during winter it seems, and will dig under the wiring to get to the food if I leave it out. Also, the chooks are up earlier than me in the summer, so by leaving the food out, they can get up and eat/drink straight away.
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I take everything out at night and lock it in the shed so not to attract vermin(food kept in metal bin in shed) and i put them out in the morning when i let the girls out. :nowink: