Rain, 36 deg. & they won't go in the coop!

[monathequeen]

NO it's not really ok to let them get wet at all....although they may like being outside in the elements, they can get sick from being wet and then as it gets very cold at night, they can get respiritory infections. I came home one night and this was in the Fall and my chickens had been out in the rain all day. They were pretty soaked and I didn't even think to dry them off so I let them go in the coop that night all wet. The next day I had a dead chicken at the bottom of the roost....I believe she was so soaked that she froze to death over night.
I have had mine get frostbite on the waddles and comb...you really should use commom sense when letting your animals out in this cold weather. Just like a dog, you need to be concerned at all times.
And, not all chicken owners are WOMEN.....LOL, Ray

 

[greathorse]

I would check the amount of circulation in my coop. Outside in the rain is one thing, inside in a damp coop is quite another. Mine spend a lot of time in the rain with no ill effect ever.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
YES...it is ok if they're outside when it's raining and cold. I should have had many dead chickens over the last several decades if being outside in the rain, snow and cold was going to kill them........and I haven't. They come and go as they please no matter what the weather is.

 

[prairiepearls]

Thanks again, everyone, for reassuring this still-new chicken-mom. (And thanks to the chicken-dads, too -- LOL!) My 3 girls are, of course, FINE (and very fluffy!) this frosty morning. Even tho the mom in me wants to put socks on their poor cold tootsies -- like THAT would work!

 

[ZombieChickens]

Yeah, I was just going to post that my chickens spend all day outside. Sun, rain, or the gale-force winds we had yesterday, they're always out. I assume chickens are like people: you get sick from germs, not from being wet or cold.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
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!

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

Thanks to prairiepearls for this post and double thanks to all the responders!
That we have a diverse opinion with differing results (the dead chicken vs. the just fine chickens) adds information to hungry minds.
I think, and I'm just a newbie here, that the 1 dead chicken was an anomaly but should be taken as a warning to keep a close eye on our “babies” whenever under any stress.
Common sense should be our ruler but where do you get that “common sense”?
Education from those more experienced!
This is my first year with chickens. I have a cold hardy, dual purpose bird. I was going to heat my coop but have been watching reponses from Alaskans. Now those people know winter! They do not heat their coops as a rule. They do not confine their birds more in winter than in summer. They do not lose birds as a rule from weather.
PrairiePearls…this ones for you

Every One….this ones for you

 

[prairiepearls]

Yeah, I really wasn't worried about the cold itself -- it was the WET + cold that had me unnerved. When they let themselves get that wet again, I'll have to post a photo -- they just look so soaked & miserable. But I guess their down layer must stay dry underneath it all.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
You might want to look at what they're being fed if they're actually looking wet. Mine can stay out in it all day and not look wet. The natural oil coating on their feathers helps them shed the moisture.

 

[prairiepearls]

Hmmm... I feed them Purina Layena Crumbles and they forage a lot.