Chickens out in the rain

[Marcymom3]

My dad used to say she "was madder than a wet hen." I wonder where that came from?

 

[bobbieschicks]

Quote:
Don't know, but my hen was really wet and mad today, however it was probably due to my rooster repeatedly climbing on her back and mudding her up.

 

[JP101010]

Our "regular "chickens (RIRs , SLWs , Cochins, ETC ) do well in the rain- they scratch around get wet , go in the barn and dry off a bit then back out
Our Special Needs "Fancy" Chickens (Silkies , Frizzle , Polish ETc) are not as smart - they stand in the middle of the yard rain pouring down , soaking wet and shivering. I panic because birds in general dont do well with wet and cold conditions- so This leads to lots of fluffing , blow drying and attention (hey maybe thatss why they do it

)
so we stopped letting the fancy ones out in cold rain.

every chickens IQ is different- some chickens know when its too cold and wet to stay out , some dont
Its best just to watch you chickens for a bit and see what they do

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Quote:
Chickens have an oil gland just ahead of their tail on top. When they preen, they also oil their feathers, so they aren`t as soaked as they look from rain. When ya wash them, it removes most of the oil, so it`s better to not wash them, unless you can`t stand it any longer, or they`re going to a show. Not as much oil as waterfowl, but not bad, either..........Pop

yep, i know. thats what i was eluding to...

 

[tuckertori]

Madder than a wet hen...today a friend and I were talking about "chicken sayings" but didn't come up with that one.
My girls don't really seem to notice the rain. The one thing they don't like is when it is raining and windy and the area for their dust bath gets muddy. I think that is when they might "get madder than a wet hen."