hello fowl folk! okay, so this is an extremely newbie question. we got silkies in the midst of the Great Central Texas Drought of 2011, and it hasn't really rained since we've had them. there is pretty big rain in the forecast for this week (thank goodness!). our run could get really muddy, i fear, and i've read that silkies shouldn't be in muddy conditions evarr. so the question is, should i open the coop in the morning like regular if it's raining/there's big rain forecast? or should i leave them cooped up? i would appreciate some insight! thanks. and if you're bored, check my blog, we are trying to become urban farmers: http://totallyurbanfarmer.blogspot.com pictures of chickens/coop/run/us/etc....... thanks mucho!! --cameroneil
we let out our chickens EVERDAY no matter what, unless we were on vacation. it if rains they just go under our shed. If it rains they'll just seek shelter if that's the answer your looking for. Oh and my silkie got muddy feet sometimes, it always washed off later.
I leave mine in the coop when it rains just because I don't want to try to round them up in the rain at bedtime.
For a light to medium rain, my chickens love to go out (more worms). For heavy rains, I leave them in. Like the poster above said, I would rather not tromp through the mud and rain to round them up.
With the almost weekly thunder storms rolling through the NE in recent weeks, I've noticed that they stay out of the hen house while it is light and move inside then the thunder and lightning start coming through. My white hens look a little dingy but a few days of no rain and they are back to normal (as normal as they can be)....
from Ga. I open my run door and let them decide for themselves. If it is storming really bad I do not let them out. Just like in the winter. If it is extremely cold and raining or snowing I don't let them out. Good luck.
They're smart enough to seek shelter if the weather gets too bad. Mine sit under the bamboo near the back door being VERY noisy... I swear they're trying to get me to come out with easy or warm treats. They only get kept in the coop if there are high winds, in case a branch/tree falls and knocked down a fence or something, mainly because there are big unfriendly dogs next door. I also keep them in if there is a risk of flooding, or a bushfire in the area so I can evacuate the property quickly with them if need be.
Quote:Thanks for all the wisdom, peeps! And @7L Farm, fellow thirsty Texan, I'll believe it when i see it. At this point I would have no problem wrangling muddy chickens if it meant I could re-learn what rain smells like. but yeah, 40% storm chance on Wednesday. *does tiny rain dance*
