Rain and cold next week - what do I need to do?

[Oceanbaby]

We live in the Bay Area of Northern California, so we are used to pretty mild weather. We only have 3 hens. During the last big rain the inside of their coop was getting wet because the rain was blowing sideways, and my husband and I were out there trying to cover it with a tarp which kept blowing off in the rain. It was a huge pain and we ended up clearing out wet shavings two or three times to keep everything dry.

Next week is supposed to be rainy and really cold (for us that means possibly down to 32F). We are going to proatively put some plastic over two sides of the three sided upper vent, and tape off the one door opening where most of the rain blows in. Do I need to do anything else? Are they okay at those low temperatures? Should I tape more of the venting?

 

[Imp]

As long as you can keep then dry and draft free they will be fine. 32*F is not very cold for a chicken.

Imp

 

[Bookworm chick]

Right now it's sleeting and those chickens are all out in the run instead of in their dry coop! What ails them.

 

[txchickie]

32 degrees is a nice day for a chicken

Being wet is not! As long as they can stay totally dry and have a dry place to retreat to, they will be fine!

My goobers were out in the single degree temps like it was no big deal. It was to me....I watched them from inside my warm house

 

[teach1rusl]

Could you post a picture of your coop? That would help people help you.

Reading your description, I was visualizing and open air type of coop...because you mentioned tarping off sides. As someone else mentioned, they do need a dry, draft free area during cold weather...