4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Slickchick]

Could someone please tell me what they do with there chickens whilst experiencing heavy rain. I feel really guilty our girls 5 days of being cooped up was up yesterday and we have had nothing but heavy rain since, do i let them out or should i leave them in the run where they will be dry. It got to the point yesterday where i was sat in the garden in my rain coat under the patio parasol because i felt guilty that the girls where still cooped up. They have a large branch, hanging CD's also a corn and cabbage hanging to nibble at do you think this is enough to keep them entertained ?, .

 

Thanks Lyndsey.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

They should be fine . If you open their run door, you'll soon see if they prefer the dry of the run or the rain . Mine would go out in the rain for a bit, then ruffle their feathers and go back indoors!

[ubereglu]

Ours often free range in heavy rain, then when it gets too heavy for them they come and stand on the back doorstep, go in there covered run or hide under a hedge! They may look really sad, but they'll be perfectly happy and dry out soon enough.

 

Also the rain brings lots of worms to the surface, which they like!

[Guest]

Although mine are in a semi wir half is covered the other is open roofed mesh. They do go in the wet side and have a good old root about in the rain ..thats when woodchips are useful but they dont seem to mind it at all. And still look fluffy

 

indie

[Chucky Mama]

Mine free range whatever the weather and whilst they can look pretty pathetic in the rain; they prefer to huddle together and choose somewhere to shelter in the garden in shrubs or wherever that going into the Eglu cube even though it has a rain cover on. The only time I have ever forced them to stay in was one day in really heavy snow as they were finding it hard to find shelter and somewhere to keep their feet out of the snow.(Ended up clearing several paths around the garden for them ).

[Budgies]

I'm going to be different! I always used to err on the side of caution. Chooks can be silly creatures, and chook feathers and wet don't mix well.

 

Damp and draughts are chickens' worst enemies - they can get respiratory illnesses from these conditions really easily.

 

So I tended to keep mine undercover in heavy downpours and if I did let them out for half an hour, I roughly dried them off with a towel/hairdryer if it was chilly weather.

[Chucky Mama]

I agree with Budgies that can be silly and sit out in the rain when there is perfectly good shelter available. I did worry about this with mine in the early days but mine have thankfully learned to sit in the sheltered parts of the garden now. If they hadn't I think I would shut them in. They were particularly silly and miserable in the snow.

If in doubt I would advise enforced shelter.

[Surrey Hen]

It has just started chucking it down here and my 2 have decided to go to bed early so as to be in their warm, dry Eglu - I didn't even have to bribe them with sweetcorn. Clearly my chooks have more brains than some.

[Yorkshire Pudding]

Mine prefer free ranging whatever the weather. I saw the downpour coming and bribed them back into the run by calling 'corn o'clock' early this afternoon.

 

Otherwise they will stay out in it until they are completely soggy, silly madams.

[FoxFighters]

Ours are the same as Yorkshire Puddings!

It doesn't matter how much shelter you give them (inside the run or out) they will continue to scratch in the heaviest of downpours.

There's only so much you can do for some chooks!....................

[BocBoc]

Ours freerange whatever the weather! They have the option of retreating back to the Eglu or sheltering under a garden tabel - but they just keep pecking at all those lovely worms! They don't seem to be bothered by the rain at all and I guess if it made them ill they would be extinct in this country by now!!

 

If it's really heavy rain whilst we are out at work then I pop the winter shelter over the Eglu run but we've only done that once.