chickens in the rain

[Jinxy]

Today was the only time its rained in months! (california) and hopefully my chickens like it

 

[pawl]

I can't help but worry about the little nuts standing around in the cold Kentucky rain... won't they get sick?

 

[Dottie Ferrell]

I live in an area where it rains almost every day so they don't have a choice if they want to free range for bugs, worms, and check out the compost pile. I think they all believe "it is what it is" but they do seem to check the puddles for earth worms daily, which are just wonderful around here. We have 2 Buff Orphs, a RI Red, and a Dominique and they seem to love being together with few disputes. We just love them----all are spoiled and like to sit on or with us.

 

[henmania]

We live in London and it rains almost everyday and each time I check my chickens are stood outside staring at the sky. I'm thinking to get a cover for their pronto reduce the amount of rain they're exposed to. Good idea or not? I'm worried they'll get sick if they're getting soaked everyday.

 

[Dottie Ferrell]

I am in Port Angeles and you know how wet we get here too. My 4 chickiebabies look like drowned rats by the time they go in to roost at night. They might not like it, but it doesn't stop the free range hunt for bugs, slugs, and night crawlers that come out in the rain. I don't like the reduction in eggs due to either the weather or the fewer hours of light lately, but I still have a good supply of eggs from this summer and they will last a long time.

 

[pawl]

I can't help but worry about the little nuts standing around in the cold Kentucky rain... won't they get sick?

It has almost a year and the silly things still stand out in the rain and nobody has gotten sick... maybe standing still keeps the rain on the outside of the feathers kind of like not touching the sides of a tent

 

[country girl44]

It's been raining here in pa all day and I'm worried to but right now my girls are under their coop, and they were outside most of the day getting wet. I was thinking of going outside and chasing them into the coop, but it's too early to have them locked up and I do not want them bored being locked up and start picking on I each other.

 

[Christabean]

I have spoiled California chickens and it's been interesting to see them go from absolute huddled horror when they first encountered rain at about 5 months old, to now a couple months later they just hang out in it. We are improving our drought with a decently wet rainy season so far this year, and I gave them a 2'x12' corrugated acrylic panel's worth or weather protection. Two thirds of it is covering the open part of their coop (cut in pieces so they get a 4'x4' square of dry area) and the remaining 4'x2' section I turned into a dry perch for them after watching them get soaked in the back part of the run. I built this from scraps of an old Ikea bedframe my dad had lying around (sized about like 1"x2" pine lumber) and a 4-foot scrap of 2"x4" so they each get a foot of roost.




Certainly nothing fancy but not bad considering I built it in the kitchen in my pajamas in about an hour, using free scraps!

And of course now that I built this it magically stopped the rain. Oh well, they still like sitting in it!

 

[Ajvilla7]

I did put my inside the pen and they were not happy so i ended up letting them out

 

[JesusHChicken]

Live Western Was. Just got our first decent rain. The entire flock didn't seem to mind the rain and I still got my eggs for the day. They get wet but not soaked. Looked like they enjoyed the extra bugs.