Poultry afraid of the rain?

[isegal]

My 5 king uail are in their new outdoor coop. They have tons of space. They were only introduced recently and I've seen them wandering around. Rain season started a few days ago though and it's raining nearly daily here and since then they've stopped wandering and are always behind or under their coop. I don't see them, but I know they are eating and drinking. They have a tarp over their coop but some water has been leaking in but one of the problems might be the rain when it hits the tarp it makes a loud noise and sometimes it even shocks me and when theres tons of rain itll constantly be hitting. Any ideas why my quail are always hiding. It gets the lowest around 49 degrees here they are fully feathered and there is clear nylon wrapped around the entire coop but the door.

 

[BoundlessLove]

Good evening!
I have no experience with quail; however, with chickens it takes them a little while to adjust when moving/housing them in a new coop.

 

[le_bwah]

Do they have cover/hides to go with their open space? In general, open space = "death from above" in the minds of prey animals.

If they don't have many hides, I'd try adding several and see if it affects their behavior.

 

[pnw_urban_chix]

I don't have any experience with king quail, but sometimes my chickens will all go sit in their coop when it rains very hard. Hope this helps!

 

[isegal]

Do they have cover/hides to go with their open space? In general, open space = "death from above" in the minds of prey animals.

If they don't have many hides, I'd try adding several and see if it affects their behavior.

They spend most of their time under their coop there is around 2 inches it's dark and warm there and they still haven't ventured up into the coop with the heat inside. I'll see if soon I can go in kick them out from under place planks under and grab them and place them inside their coop for like a day or so and they'll know there's heat but thst might stress them out a lot giving them like less than a soft per bird also not high enough they can fly upwards and they have nowhere to go

 

[Nabiki]

49 isn't deadly for them, but they are probably cold. They get some shelter from the cold under the coop and they can hide, so that's where they feel safest. Place some hiding places around their pen. They'll feel safer if there are convenient places to take shelter rather than a large open space.

 

[le_bwah]

They spend most of their time under their coop there is around 2 inches it's dark and warm there and they still haven't ventured up into the coop with the heat inside. I'll see if soon I can go in kick them out from under place planks under and grab them and place them inside their coop for like a day or so and they'll know there's heat but thst might stress them out a lot giving them like less than a soft per bird also not high enough they can fly upwards and they have nowhere to go

Okay, but do they have lots of little hides and low cover to spend their time in, to dart into when a big bird flies overhead or a dog runs by? They might be hiding under the coop because it's the only thing they can get under.

This is an old pic, but it shows the density of cover that I think prevents flushing and stress behavior like wall-pacing.

Honestly, a coop or hutch is unlikely to get much if any use, especially at night—they don't roost, but sleep out in the open. Ground-based cover with limited ramp/step access seems to be preferred. Some people build them a chicken coop and think they're dumb for not using it when the fact is they simply aren't chickens.

So they gather under the coop. Rather than evict them from a place where they seem naturally comfortable, can you bring the heat source safely below the coop?

Also: posting pics of your setup would assist people here in best helping you and your birds.

 

[McChooky]

My 5 king uail are in their new outdoor coop. They have tons of space. They were only introduced recently and I've seen them wandering around. Rain season started a few days ago though and it's raining nearly daily here and since then they've stopped wandering and are always behind or under their coop. I don't see them, but I know they are eating and drinking. They have a tarp over their coop but some water has been leaking in but one of the problems might be the rain when it hits the tarp it makes a loud noise and sometimes it even shocks me and when theres tons of rain itll constantly be hitting. Any ideas why my quail are always hiding. It gets the lowest around 49 degrees here they are fully feathered and there is clear nylon wrapped around the entire coop but the door.

The tarp over my run frightens my chickens too. Some even get in the floor when it comes a hard rain I wish I could afford a metal roof so my chickens wouldn't have to go thru this.The rain is very loud when it hits the tarp. Quail are flightier than chickens