3 days straight of rain? Should I be worried?

[nao57]

So...this is the third day in a row of straight rain. Its weird.

Where I live it usually doesn't rain like this at all.

My ducks just go out there and play in it. And they seem fine. They haven't gone under the shelters that I put up for them. (I don't understand why....) They don't act like they are in trouble or stressed out. And in fact I still see them playing.

I thought they wouldn't go in ...for awhile but would maybe at night at least. And they didn't. When i went to feed them the black ducks were pretty soaked looking, but seem to be fine. The fact that they were soaked worried me.

I'm curious what you other duck and chicken people do when there's extended periods of rain lasting a long time, with your animals? And any tricks to deal with this?

(Its not windy, but a little cold, but not yet snow or sleet, just straight rain.)

 

[SolarDuck]

So...this is the third day in a row of straight rain. Its weird.

Where I live it usually doesn't rain like this at all.

My ducks just go out there and play in it. And they seem fine. They haven't gone under the shelters that I put up for them. (I don't understand why....) They don't act like they are in trouble or stressed out. And in fact I still see them playing.

I thought they wouldn't go in ...for awhile but would maybe at night at least. And they didn't. When i went to feed them the black ducks were pretty soaked looking, but seem to be fine. The fact that they were soaked worried me.

I'm curious what you other duck and chicken people do when there's extended periods of rain lasting a long time, with your animals? And any tricks to deal with this?

(Its not windy, but a little cold, but not yet snow or sleet, just straight rain.)

I don't think you need to do anything. Ducks love rain and water they will be fine just make sure they are locked up at night. If they have a shelter to get out of the rain, they will use it when they want to. Definitely don't worry about them standing in the rain all day.

 

[nao57]

Thank you very much for your comment.

I don't really care about losing any pride or what people think as long as I keep them alive. I don't want to lose any of them. They are fun to watch also.

 

[3bird]

Our flock loves a good rain...or hurricane...lol. On days when it's coming down, they can't wait to come out (their run is covered). We joke that they are eager to get to work on their "projects." It's tough engineering and re-engineering runoff paths, stomping in puddles and getting filthy, but someone has to do it! They even like rain in the winter in Maine!

 

[DucksAreBest]

Ducks love rain. A research project in 2009 showed that ducks actually preferred being under a shower than a pool of water.

 

[KaleIAm]

Ducks love rain. A research project in 2009 showed that ducks actually preferred being under a shower than a pool of water.

I love whoever decided to research that.

 

[KaleIAm]

So...this is the third day in a row of straight rain. Its weird.

Where I live it usually doesn't rain like this at all.

My ducks just go out there and play in it. And they seem fine. They haven't gone under the shelters that I put up for them. (I don't understand why....) They don't act like they are in trouble or stressed out. And in fact I still see them playing.

I thought they wouldn't go in ...for awhile but would maybe at night at least. And they didn't. When i went to feed them the black ducks were pretty soaked looking, but seem to be fine. The fact that they were soaked worried me.

I'm curious what you other duck and chicken people do when there's extended periods of rain lasting a long time, with your animals? And any tricks to deal with this?

(Its not windy, but a little cold, but not yet snow or sleet, just straight rain.)

Personally, I think that playing in the rain a lot is fine. They should be waterproof. But if they are soggy looking then they aren't waterproof and could get too cold.

My understanding is that mud can strip their feathers of their waterproofing oils. So perhaps it is too muddy for them? When my ducks are muddy I give them clean water to bathe in and keep them away from the muddy spots so they can preen and reoil their feathers. I understand that this can't be easily done in all setups.

 

[3bird]

Personally, I think that playing in the rain a lot is fine. They should be waterproof. But if they are soggy looking then they aren't waterproof and could get too cold.

My understanding is that mud can strip their feathers of their waterproofing oils. So perhaps it is too muddy for them? When my ducks are muddy I give them clean water to bathe in and keep them away from the muddy spots so they can preen and reoil their feathers. I understand that this can't be easily done in all setups.

Our guys tend to get pretty muddy sometimes, but then they clean-up on their own afterwards. I've never seen one of ours stay muddy before settling down. I would also be concerned if a duck appeared to be staying muddy.

 

[Pollo Blanco]

So...this is the third day in a row of straight rain. Its weird.

Where I live it usually doesn't rain like this at all.

My ducks just go out there and play in it. And they seem fine. They haven't gone under the shelters that I put up for them. (I don't understand why....) They don't act like they are in trouble or stressed out. And in fact I still see them playing.

I thought they wouldn't go in ...for awhile but would maybe at night at least. And they didn't. When i went to feed them the black ducks were pretty soaked looking, but seem to be fine. The fact that they were soaked worried me.

I'm curious what you other duck and chicken people do when there's extended periods of rain lasting a long time, with your animals? And any tricks to deal with this?

(Its not windy, but a little cold, but not yet snow or sleet, just straight rain.)

In the Pacific Northwest region where it's famous for rain, people wear Goretex and ducks wear feathers. One of my considerations before getting fowl was the wet weather. After a fair amount of research on Backyard Chickens, I opted for ducks. This was a secondary consideration, which is why my screen name is Pollo Blanco rather than Pata Blanco.
Anyway, even during some of the cooler nights, my ducks go for a swim first thing every morning and never appear to be too cool even when they are wet looking.

 

[3bird]

In the Pacific Northwest region where it's famous for rain, people wear Goretex and ducks wear feathers. One of my considerations before getting fowl was the wet weather. After a fair amount of research on Backyard Chickens, I opted for ducks. This was a secondary consideration, which is why my screen name is Pollo Blanco rather than Pata Blanco.
Anyway, even during some of the cooler nights, my ducks go for a swim first thing every morning and never appear to be too cool even when they are wet looking.

It was 4F here this morning, and our flock marched right out to their pool...but it was frozen solid :-(