My chickens won't go out in the snow

[gambler]

Is this normal chicken behavior or do I have wimpy chickens? They are RIR and have not gone outside since the snow has been on the ground.

 

[Mahonri]

smart chickens!

 

[Winisk]

Mine aren't too sure of the white stuff either.

 

[teach1rusl]

Would YOU want to go out in the snow in bare feet???

 

[taprock]

Half of mine will and half won't. They don't stay out long if they do go.

 

[chickflick]

Do you blame them???

 

[PeepsInc]

Chicken socks are on sale at Walmart! ....

 

[Judy]

Some roam freely in it, at least for a while. They could also be afraid of it.

 

[secuono]

I'm thinking all that white is also blinding. Sure does blind us, why not them, too?

 

[PortageGirl]

Pretty normal, especially if the snow is very deep at all, which means more than a couple inches. As some have said, some may go out, others won't. Mine are much more likely to go out if it's sunny, on gloomy days they prefer to stay very close to the coop. It IS a must that I completely brush off the little ramp for them no matter what though!

It helps if I stomp around a bit to tramp down the snow too, and some shavings or straw near the door helps, then they mosey around a bit more beyond after that.

Your chickens aren't especially wimpy though!