Cold, Wet, and Freezing Chickens

[PandaGirl]

I am not sure if this is an emergency or not, but I could not come up with another place to put it. I live in St. Louis and we are going through a freezing rain spell. We just had a fairly large snow storm, and the snow melting has made the ground a sopping wet mess. When I went out to there run, the chickens are all wet, and the water is frozen. They do not seem unhappy, and are still foraging in there run, but it is only a partially covered run and I am wondering if I should be doing something. The ground is also very muddy and wet.
Thanks!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

You could put down some straw. Make sure their coop is dry and they should be fine.

 

[Tre3hugger]

They will most likely be just fine. What is the expected low temp?

 

[629864]

We're in north central Arkansas and we've been getting the same awful weather

I would start off by saying that the ice on the water needs to be broken regularly if it's in an open tub of some kind. If it's just a hanging waterer, you'll need to replace the water regularly. Access to drinkable water is vital. I have several water sources in my run. The hanging waterers become useless in freezing weather. So the other sources are super important. I have a big stick next to each to break ice with and I will bring a kettle of boiling water to pour on it to warm it for a while before it freezes again.

My run is on a slope, so I dug a trench down the center of the run that diverts extra water. But my run is completely uncovered, so it's gonna get soggy. I add extra straw to the entire run so at least they're walking on wet straw instead of sloppy mud. I would advise thinking hard about digging a trench at the edge of your run because it may end up causing a gap at the bottom of your run fencing (or whatever it is your run is made of) which is a breach in security against predators. Where the center trench meets the edge of my run, I have a pile of small rocks to allow drainage with a very heavy rock on top to prevent digging. So far, this trench has helped a lot with the onslaught of rains.