Went home at lunch to check on the chicks- glad I did

[megalomaniac]

I'm just about finished with the permanent coop outside, still have interior paint to go, but my 12 6 wk old chicks were getting too crowded in the cardboard box they've grown up in, so I built a lightweight tractor 4x4x8' to put them in outside. Yesterday was thier first day outside, they had a blast

At lunch today, I saw we were going to get a thunderstorm on the radar, so I dashed home. It was sprinkling, and the chicks seemed to enjoy the cool-down. I went into the house, and after a few minutes, it began to rain hard, so I grabbed my umbrella and went outside to check on the kids. They were piled up in the front corner of the coop getting drenched, with 2 or 3 buried under a pile of soaking wet chickens. I shooed them to the other side of the coop under the cover. Hope they don't get sick from the drenching, but jeez, one would think they would have the sense to get out of the rain

 

[Mahonri]

Rain was something new. They didn't know what to do!

 

[megalomaniac]

Had another downpour around 4pm yesterday. When I got home after work, all 12 were under the dry end and preened back out. Looks like they got it figured out after all. I was just sure that I was going to come home to a couple of dead or sick ones yesterday evening.

A big cricket made the mistake of walking into the pen. It was like a gang of pirahnas dismembering it

 

[seminolewind]

Chicks getting educated!

 

[easttxchick]

Not sure where you live, but with it being summertime, a little downpour won't hurt them.
My poor birds have actually been staying out when it rains due to the heat.