Availability of bugs when it rains

[emilysteng]

Hey - for all you people who have free range or experience with wild chickens - do you think there is less food available when it rains alot? Maybe less bugs out there available to catch?

Just wondering because the last week or so it has been raining quite a bit here. It seems like the chickens are much hungrier than usual. One of my wild chicken friends used to only come out once a day and ask for food - the rest of the time she was out somewhere doing her thing. But the past week or so she is always hanging around asking for more food.

Then Casino and her two chicks. I do feed them more often than the other chicken - and the chicks are growing (about 6 weeks old now) - but it just seems like this week they are so super hungry and demanding.

What do you all think?

 

[Baymule]

That sounds reasonable to me. I would just keep plenty of feed out for them.

 

[austradork]

While there are fewer bugs available during the fall and winter months, there is more rain, and as we all know: more rain = more worms. And I SWEAR our girls make the connection too. When we let them out of their coop after a night of rain, they always peck and scratch in the dirt with absolute zest and a look of expectation!

 

[chickenwhisperer]

there may not be bugs out and about WHILE it is raining, but the next day is usually off the hook.

 

[emilysteng]

well, if they LIKED worms, then that would be great. But they don't even take a second look at them. They prefer geckos, potato bugs, centipedes, spiders, and even those little greenhouse frogs.

Is it possible they're just getting lazy? Casino is pretty self sufficient. Before her chicks, she would come hang out with us, we'd give her some treats, but that was it. Sometimes she didn't get anything supplemental the whole weekend. Maybe we're just spoiling them.

 

[Costa Rica Art]

In Costa Rica we get a lot of rain, this past week has been brutal, over 3 feet of rain in 6 days, major land slides. Our chickens were out in the rain, chasing bugs and scratching. Worms are eaten with great vigor. There are few bugs they won't eat. Today I caught 3 mice in the hen house, tossed them in a bucket then later dumped them on the ground, the hens and a major foot race, I didn't watch too busy taking care of business but I guess they were breakfast for 3 hens. I would think chickens anywhere would get out in the rain but as mentioned by others they hit the feeder harder than usual.

 

[PineappleMama]

I don't know about rain or shine, but I keep my buckets of feed, grit, and oyster out in the aviary and make a point at least once a week of moving those buckets all around... our girls have a FIELD DAY getting all the creepy crawlies that were cowering under them.