Silkie with a bunch of rain hardy chickens

[Bejep714]

We recently got a buff silkie rooster yesterday and introduced him to our chickens. Our run is muddy, but we will be getting wood chips to help it get better, but I was wondering what to do in the rain? The summer is coming so I don't think he will get to cold during rain, but I did find out silkies are not rain birds at all. We have a coop on stilts so he can his under it, but I'm not sure he would stay under it. Is it their instinct to seek shelter in the rain? Also we were thinking about putting plywood around the fence jutting out over the run a bit to add more rain protection. We don't want to cover the entire run since it could block out the sun and also we have buff orpingtons and Rhode island reds and they love the rain. But we also want to make sure our rooster has enough space to hide from it since we get a lot of rain in our summers

 

[Cassandra Lana]

i would just make sure he has dry access to the food and water. Then if he gets wet it’s not anything you influenced. Also I would put hay or straw under the coop.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I have two Silkie Roosters that free range during the day. I have places for them to take cover and luckily they both take advantage of this. We've had record setting amounts of rain in February so they've spent quite a bit of time under their provided shelter even though it's not in their preferred hang out spot. On the other hand my Silkie Hen seems to do the same things no matter if it's pouring down or not, but she doesn't just stand there like she's lost. My pullet just follows her Naked Neck/Cochin cross flockmate around so the decision to not spend time in the rain is made for her

 

[Bejep714]

Okay, I'll let you know next time it rains if he'll take cover. Thanks

 

[Bejep714]

It rained for the first time since we had him today. So far light rain, not pouring, but he didn't take cover like I thought. He spends a lot of time inside however. When I went out to check he was out in the rain, but didn't look soaking wet, but you could tell at the tip of his tail he was a bit damp. A minute later he went inside and as I know he's still there. Its pretty cold and late in the day so I don't want him to be to wet to dry before roosting. Everyone else is out in the rain right now, but it seems like hes being at least a bit cautious of the rain. I'll update when it really pours

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Both of my Silkie boys spend time in the rain. They leave their covered area to check on the girls all throughout the day, anytime someone makes an odd noise or just whenever, so my boys get pretty wet too. You can use a blow dryer (on a low setting to prevent burning them) to get them dry if you feel it's necessary. I usually just put my boys to bed in the coop like normal and haven't had a problem so far. I have worried about the excess moisture but adequate ventilation should help with that, I believe. What kind of temperatures do you have in your area?

 

[Bejep714]

During the winter it gets usually below freezing every night and most of the time the same during the day. In the summer we usually have 85-100 degrees everyday, but a lot of rain. I think he would be fine getting wet during summer time. Today it was 40 degrees.

 

[IttyBittyBirdy]

My silkie rooster (profile picture) doesn't take shelter from the rain but instead turns into a soggy feral gremlin-looking thing... He's now in a covered pen.

Just make sure they're able to reach some place dry, and if you're able to, dash out into the yard to plop him down in a dry space.

 

[Bejep714]

We had our first thunderstorm of the year today. We checked the radar a bit late and ended up going out to the chickens to put them away right before the rain started. We got a few in with some mealworm bait but 3 including the silkie rooster would not go inside. The rain was probably the most sudden and most wild I have ever seen. The rain was coming down sideways and you were blinded by it. We took shelter in the coop before the main part passed but it left so much water in so short of the time the run was starting to flood. The rooster took refuge under the coop but it happened so suddenly he was still drenched. We had to lure him out into the pouring rain and thunder. After we got everyone inside the coop we took him inside our house. It was around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, but he was still shivering. We wrapped him in a towel and sat him by the fire for 15 minutes and he was just a bit damp when he was put back in the coop with everyone. We actually summer for the coop since just yesterday it was over 80 degrees, but we put back up the vents because they were calling for 30 mph winds. We were not sure if he should have gone back in the coop so quickly. He was still damp, by the coop has installation and was probably around 70 degrees. He also likes to sit up with everyone of our orpingtons which are twice his size so we believed he would be warm that way. I'm very happy he took shelter under the coop, even though in this case it didn't work out.

 

[Bejep714]

Here is a picture