Chicks in the rain

[Madie'sOddFlock]

I know this question has been asked many times over the years, but I really think that the answer depends on a particular situation. I was planning on putting my 6 & 7 week old chicks outside today. It's been staying in the high 50s/low 60s at night, and they've been off the heat lamp for 3 or 4 weeks now. Their brooders inside are plastic totes and they've been staying in my living room which has an air conditioner practically right over them. So it's safe to say that outside at night is probably the same temp as inside all day. But of course, I wake up this morning and it's raining... it's supposed to rain for the next 4 days. It's supposed to get warmer and rain less as the week goes on. My big worry is that they haven't spent any time outside yet(we changed all of our brooder setups in the last year, and I didn't have the room or the coop until yesterday...). Also, they'd be in an uncovered(unless I pull a tarp over it) run, and in a manufactured "coop" somewhat like this one:

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Madie.

 

[Homesteadermomma6382]

As long as a somewhere clean and dry to get out of the weather they should be ok

 

[BrahmaMama207]

Hello from Portland, Maine! We finally have rain!

I have three 8-week old dark brahmas out in their own section of the big chicken run with a bunny hutch acting as their coop. It looks somewhat similar to what you've shared. There is one area/compartment up top that's protected from the elements completely. They're not only happy in there - but out in the rain. I've seen them in and out today. So cute.

They are completely feathered out, however.

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

Hello from Portland, Maine! We finally have rain!

I have three 8-week old dark brahmas out in their own section of the big chicken run with a bunny hutch acting as their coop. It looks somewhat similar to what you've shared. There is one area/compartment up top that's protected from the elements completely. They're not only happy in there - but out in the rain. I've seen them in and out today. So cute.

They are completely feathered out, however.

The 7-week olds are completely feathered, but the 6-week olds are only almost feathered out. I actually couldn't find a tarp, so I took an old rug and that seems to be working great. They seem happy for now. I'll see how they do as the day progresses and decide then whether or not I'm bringing them back in(or even just a few since some of them are still quite small and there are 2 bantams).
But I'm very glad that we're finally getting all this rain(I won't have to water the garden for the next few days!)

 

[Flockincrazy]

As long as they have somewhere to get out of the rain they should be good chickens are great climate change adapters

 

[rosemarythyme]

Regardless of style of coop or age of birds, a coop should stay dry inside. If it does not, you need to make some changes to make sure it'll stay dry as possible inside.

That said, I had 2 day old chicks in an outdoor brooder sitting in the run, in the rain. No need for extra protection. They did fine. Positioning the open sides of the brooder so that the wind wouldn't push rain through, and building up the floor litter so the brooder sat higher than the ground, so very little ground moisture seeped upward, was all I needed to give them a dry spot to grow up.

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

Regardless of style of coop or age of birds, a coop should stay dry inside. If it does not, you need to make some changes to make sure it'll stay dry as possible inside.

That said, I had 2 day old chicks in an outdoor brooder sitting in the run, in the rain. No need for extra protection. They did fine. Positioning the open sides of the brooder so that the wind wouldn't push rain through, and building up the floor litter so the brooder sat higher than the ground, so very little ground moisture seeped upward, was all I needed to give them a dry spot to grow up.

I didn't plan out how I positioned the coop, and yet it seems to have done well since the inside of the coop managed to not get wet at all with no adjustments. The run I decided to cover, just because it is a small coop, and ideally, I would have a bigger one, but they'll get moved around more as time goes by and other birds can be moved around too. I'm yet to run out and check on them this morning, but they were doing very well around 10:30 last night, so I decided to leave them out.