My chickens are sleeping in the rain.

[Henriettamom919]

Since the weather has been so gorgeous here my girls had been roosting on the roof of their coop.

Well, it's dumping outside and they are not budging! Should I force them inside & lock them in overnight? It's not the first time they slept through a drizzle but it's not ever rained this hard since they started roosting outside their coop.

 

[aart]

How old are your birds?
Pics of coop, inside and out, please?

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[Henriettamom919]

How old are your birds?
Pics of coop, inside and out, please?

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
View attachment 1778960

First off, I should add I ended up going out there in the wee hours (1am ish) and they were all still there looking like drowned rats and seemingly miserable. Feathers parted from being so wet, standing and shaking out, etc. So I said forget it and tossed them inside leaving the bottom cracked open so they could squeeze out when they woke up and came downstairs. Their coop is inside a fully fenced garden and that sits on a fully fenced acre.

When I went back to check on them about half an hour later they were all cozied up together and grooming the water off each others backs.

My chickens are about 9 months old (we got them in January listed as 18-22 weeks)
This is my girls ' exact coop, they all fit comfortably on the roosting bar but one often gets down in the night and beds down in the shavings.)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0784BCVDQ/?tag=backy-20
We're building a new, larger coop from scratch that should be done come Memorial day!
We live about 25miles North of Seattle.
It's pouring, like hear it on the roof, windshield wipers on full, quite often this time of year and about 48- 54 at night and daytime vary wildly from low sixties to mid eighties just last weekend. Our weather for the next several days is rainy and low sixties during the day.

Thank you!

 

[aart]

So pretty much full grown....how many birds?
I'd guess it's too stuffy in there and they prefer to be outside even in the rain.
Course once it's get dark they are not likely to move....good you moved them inside.
Glad to hear you are building a larger coop...
... not only is that coop small, there's little to no ventilation.

 

[DobieLover]

First off, I should add I ended up going out there in the wee hours (1am ish) and they were all still there looking like drowned rats and seemingly miserable. Feathers parted from being so wet, standing and shaking out, etc. So I said forget it and tossed them inside leaving the bottom cracked open so they could squeeze out when they woke up and came downstairs. Their coop is inside a fully fenced garden and that sits on a fully fenced acre.

When I went back to check on them about half an hour later they were all cozied up together and grooming the water off each others backs.

My chickens are about 9 months old (we got them in January listed as 18-22 weeks)
This is my girls ' exact coop, they all fit comfortably on the roosting bar but one often gets down in the night and beds down in the shavings.)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0784BCVDQ/?tag=backy-20
We're building a new, larger coop from scratch that should be done come Memorial day!
We live about 25miles North of Seattle.
It's pouring, like hear it on the roof, windshield wipers on full, quite often this time of year and about 48- 54 at night and daytime vary wildly from low sixties to mid eighties just last weekend. Our weather for the next several days is rainy and low sixties during the day.

Thank you!

If I were them, I wouldn't sleep in that either.
Hopefully your new coop is properly sized for them. Then they will happily go in to roost at night. With such wet conditions, I hope you have lots of ventilation in your new coop.

 

[Henriettamom919]

If I were them, I wouldn't sleep in that either.
Hopefully your new coop is properly sized for them. Then they will happily go in to roost at night. With such wet conditions, I hope you have lots of ventilation in your new coop.

Yes, it's tiny and we bought it back when we were chicken naive and well before I found you all! Our larger coop is three times the size with several windows. I'll take some pics if there is a break in the rain today!

Edited to add we have three ladies, two Barred Rock and one Buff Orp

 

[rosemarythyme]

Chickens vote with their feet, so it sounds like yours took that to the extreme. I'm sure they'll love the new coop though!

That said, unless it's POURING rain my chickens choose to stay out in the run during the day (my run is uncovered). They'll always go in at night, but if it's daylight, they want to be out.

 

[ellend]

There is a reason they're not going in. Check for rodent access, and check for BOTH type of mites: Northern fowl (they live on the bird, especially around the vent on on the belly near the vent) and red mite (they live in crevices in the coop, and stay on the bird only to feed. Something is either biting them or frightening them if they are willing to stay outside in the cold rain.

 

[Henriettamom919]

I did this when they began roosting on the coop and treated it with diatomaceous earth after a thorough white vinegar scrub. I think they've just outgrown it, as others have pointed out.

Their new coop should be done this weekend and my babies will go in the smaller coop until I'm ready to let them free range the yard with their older sissies! (The smaller coop is in a fenced garden, perfect for littles just learning to forage!)