Do Hens Know Enough to Get Out of the Rain?

[VT Chick-lit]

I had thought, up until today, that my hens would know enough to get out of the rain. I was wrong!
We had a bad storm pop up this afternoon. There was thunder, lightening, wind and torrent of rain. I went out to the hen house and run to put my two 8 week old pullets into the hen house from their segregated run area. They were afraid and ran back and forth in their little run area

, not being willing to go into their cat carrier transport for the short trip to the hen house. I finally was able to get them into the carrier

and then into their caged in area in the coop. It was at that point that I noticed that my two hens, Roxy and Pebbles were not yet in the coop.
I looked out the coop window and saw the two hens standing at the far end of their run, frozen and staring catitonically through the fencing. The rain was comming down in sheets, yet they made no move to come into the hen house through their "hen's door". I had to run out of the hen house and get them. They didn't even flinch as I snatched each of them up and stuffed them through their door. They do not like to be handled normally so the fact that they did not even flinch when I grabbed them was a surprise! This is the first time that I have seen them in a thunder storm, is their reaction to to this storm typical behavior? Is there any thing I can do in the future to make these type of storms easier on them?

 

[lengel]

I give them shelter but I find that they only take it when they're ready to go in for the night. Otherwise, they walk around soaking wet. The maple tree that they're under helps. If we didn't have it, they might drown.

 

[d.k]

* We can get raucus thunderstorms sometimes daily here in normal summers. Chook was just like yours when I first saw her, drenched to the skin. I have 3 possible places she can hole-up in a storm, but I had to start by dashing out into the rain myself and "tossing" her into one of them for several storms b/f she put it all together!!!!

 

[VT Chick-lit]

I am glad to hear that my girls are not the only hens that react to storms this way. I will have to provide more places that they can get out of the rain, other that just the hen house, and make sure that when we have a storm I go out and put them in until they get the idea!

 

[Dodgegal79]

Here on the west coast I get alot of rain. Mine are always running around the yard looking like soaked rats. They will go in the shelters when they want to, but the rain doesn't seem to bother them.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Mine love it.. Its like a shower to them. Although if its really bad with lighning and thunder they dont go in the coop but pile into a dog house we have outside by the coop that is filled with pine shavings.

 

[s6bee]

Mine are just as stupid, but to me this is the kicker. With the extreme heat we've had, I would mist them with the hose, well they just went crazy and ran for the coop.....couldn't get there fast enough. However yesterday, we got those storms too, high winds, thunder, lightening, heavy, heavy rains, they sat there outside through the whole thing. I don't get it?? Stupid chickens....

 

[ruth]

I can't tell you how many storms I've run outside, including lightning storms, in an effort to "save" my chickens that are running around in it as if it was a beautiful sunny day. In south LA there can be 20" of rain in one day and the ground is flooded - still they are out there wading around up to their chests with perfectly good shelter, barn, coop, sheds, trees they could go to for cover. I've finally come to one of two conclusions:

1. They are STUPID, DUMB.

2. The rain doesn't bother them like it does us. We're the ones with the hangup about getting wet - they don't seem to notice.

So far, based on everything else I've observed about them, they aren't stupid or dumb in any other respect so I think the rain doesn't bother them or they actually like it.

Either way, I've stopped running out in lightning storms, with my umbrella, in an effort to catch chickens that only run from me and laugh later at what an idiot (stupid, dumb) thing I was.

 

[hensdeliverthegoods]

My chickens seem to enjoy the rain, just as they enjoy it when I give them a "shower" with the garden hose set to mist.

 

[tvtaber]

My hens do the same thing; they'll be soaked through and looking for the worms the rain brings out of the soil. I think that is why they stay out, because the bugs come out of the wet soil. The funny thing is seeing a goat when it rains. They act like they are going to melt, and bolt for shelter a tthe first drop!