Rain and chickens??

[atrueb00]

The Silkies love the rain.. I'm not so sure about the other kinds of chickens though.. At least all of ours like the rain!

I love it when it rains and my silkies get the faux-hawks too, just like in your picture! When they move around their fluffy feathers and they are wet, they can't help but look like hardcore rock n roller chickens!

 

[hollymh]

My chickens don't prefer the rain but if they're out and its just a light rain they don't bother going back to the coop. When it storms they hang out at the coop door and wait...

 

[hollymh]

I love it when it rains and my silkies get the faux-hawks too, just like in your picture! When they move around their fluffy feathers and they are wet, they can't help but look like hardcore rock n roller chickens!

Strange, my silkies like the rain too, always soaked when I came to check them when it rains lol

 

[lularat]

The rain is no problem, but I was wondering if any body else's chickens were scared of the wind? My chickens are in a run and when it is real windy or a strong gust, they run to the back of the run.

 

[Sweetest]

Mine aren't afraid of the wind, but they will hunker down in the lawn if it's a really windy day. Mine are free-ranged when we are home (and sometimes when we're just running to the store or to get ice cream or something), in a run when we are not, and in a large coop at night, or when the weather is icy and they don't want to come out. If they're out and about on the lawn and it gets really windy, most of them will disappear under a tree or behind the porch steps. Very few of them go back to the run (which is where they will immediately go if a hawk is spotted, or more recently...if a canvas grocery bag escapes the trunk of my car and blows across the driveway). To me, this means they aren't afraid of the wind, but they aren't in love with it either.

 

[Sylvester017]

Ameraucanas are pure bred chickens with breed standards. They have tails, muffs (cheek fluff), and beards. They only lay blue and sometimes green eggs. Easter eggers are mutt birds that lay multi-colored eggs. Easter eggers can have the tail, muff, and beard of an ameraucana, and even be the same color standard. But if it lays an egg any color other than blue/green, it's an easter egger.

There's a similar breed called an araucana. They have no tail feathers, and have only tufts- not muffs or beards. They're a rare breed, and have specific standards like the ameraucana. They only lay blue eggs. Neither the ameraucana or araucana are sold by hatcheries. You can only get them from breeders. If you got your cutie from a hatchery, there's a good chance she's an easter egger.

Agreed that hatchery or feed stores sell only Easter Eggers. I had to order my APA Ameraucana Blue egg layer through a breeder and wait 6 months for shipment.

Hatcheries for their own credibility are starting to wake up to advertise as Easter Eggers and NOT Ameraucanas. If you only paid $6 for an Ameraucana at the feed store I guarantee you it will only be an EE. Nothing wrong with EEs as they can lay greenish, mint, light sage, stone, cream, pink, tan, or even white eggs and have a wide assortment of gorgeous plumage with or without muffs/beards.

Ameraucanas have about 8 APA SOP recognized plumage colors, slate legs, muffs/beards, and lay only Blue eggs. My Ameraucana lays blue - I paid $$ to get a Blue egg layer - it's not a dark or bright Blue but definitely not green-blue like an EE. Once in a while an EE can lay a Blue but I seldom see it. My friend has an Ameraucana and 3 EEs and only the Ameraucana is a Blue layer - her EEs lay pinkish tan, mint, and light sage. Talked with another blogger yesterday who got two white eggs from her EEs.

 

[Sylvester017]

The rain is no problem, but I was wondering if any body else's chickens were scared of the wind? My chickens are in a run and when it is real windy or a strong gust, they run to the back of the run.

I have 2 Silkies, a Buff Leghorn, and APA Blue Wheaten Ameraucana. None of them like the things that flap in the wind. The wind itself isn't too much problem but our Ameraucana is skittish and every movement and crashing sound spooks the poor gentle soul. Severely flapping tarps or floating debris causes all of them to run for shelter.

As for rain, a downpour keeps all 4 hens in the coop. As soon as a gentle or sprinkling rain comes after a downpour, then the LF go out to forage. One Silkie stays in the coop until it completely stops sprinkling while another Silkie runs out into the puddles with the big girls and looks like a drowned rat by end of day. She fluffs and preens herself dry by roost time, sleeps in a cozy nestbox, and looks all fluffy and dry in the morning. We have mild So Calif temperatures so freezing is not a worry. The breeder of my Buff Leghorn and Ameraucana says rain is good for the chicken's feathers and not to lock them up when it rains. The chickens will decide for themselves if they need to run for cover when it rains.

 

[Sylvester017]

CHEYEN... I have only two hens as pets!! A Barred Rock named Daisy and an Ameraucana named Olivia. They're just SO sweet!!

I agree - as pullets these are sweet chickens. We've had BRs and Dominiques and they are similar in sweetness, talkative, inquisitive, unafraid, very curious and love to bond to their humans. We settled on the Doms as our favorites as our BRs got large and pushy as adults. The Doms were used as the founding breed of the BRs and bred with game bird to make the BRs bigger. Since the Doms were just a bit smaller but still dual purpose birds, we favoured the calmer Doms - especially on the feed bills.

As for Easter Eggers - they're slow to mature and have kooky spooky jittery personalities but are the sweetest LF along with APA Ameraucanas. OurFlyBabies.com keeps Ameraucanas because Amers will take in orphaned chicks or injured birds into their flock where other breeds may not be so willing. EEs and Amers are such gentle souls I prefer keeping them out of heavier LF flocks - Amers and EEs are prolific egg layers and able to adapt to any flock temperaments but since they are gentle and can get stressed by bullies we keep them with other gentle breeds. Stress affects egg-laying and I don't want to stress my gentle egg layers.

 

[DarleneE]

You seem to be straight on with your assessment of them as right now, even at about 10 wks of age, my Barred Rock kinda runs the show. She is def the leader of the two. She does everything first and at times she stands up tall and erect and flaps her wings at my EE showing dominance!! I haven't seen her peck her or anything though thank God. They were raised together from babies a week old. They seem to eat well together and roost together without any issues. I pray we continue this way!!

 

[JennaLynn122]

My hens and roo are in a coop built on the inside of a pole barn and a door cut out to the outside. When it rains, they will all line up under the overhang and click and squack at it.