I have very good " flock management skills" and good common sense....I also know how to spell. do you ?
You sound like a no-it-all and you have no idea where or how I buy my animals...I do research before buying...so cool your jets partner....
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I'm sorry....but you are just three shades of WRONG about this. If your chickens died after being wet and cold, you had chickens that were already immunocompromised and not hardy to your climate. Common sense to keep chickens inside during the cold and wet, just like a dog???? For thousands of years both these creatures have been subsisting nicely outdoors without human intervention and all the sudden they can't survive it?
And, before anyone pulls out the ol' "chickens evolved from tropical birds" thing...check the meaning of the word "evolved". I've been around and raising chickens for the past 33 years in a cold, wet mountainous state and never had a bird die from exposure. Neither has anyone else I've ever met. If I were to suggest people around here take their chickens inside during the winter months and never let them out folks would commit me to the looney bin.
If your birds are getting frostbit, you need to check your flock management skills. If you purchased breeds that are not hardy to your climate, you need to check your common sense. If you bring your dog inside in the winter, you need to dress in a down snowsuit, toboggan and gloves and see how you feel in a warm house all day and night. These dogs have fur coats for a reason....they are specifically designed to live outdoors.
Just because we are not and get cold and wet outdoors, does not mean these animals do. Chickens have a layer of down and then a layer of guard feathers. If they are not touched and handled too often, these guard feathers have a good coat of oil that repels most moisture. This is why people who have birds of prey do not handle their feathers...they may remove the natural oils that protect these bird's feathers. That preening you see chickens do? They reach back, get oil from a gland at the base of their tale and distribute it throughout their feathers. This is all for a good reason.
Chickens do just fine in the cold and wet weather and should be allowed to regulate their own exposure to it. Provide a nice, dry coop and easy access to it and then stand back and let them be chickens!
I chased them in and made them stay till the freezing rain was over
