Feathers are your birds' first defense against rain and wet weather. Think about the stiff, main, outer feathers on a chicken, known as the contour feathers. These are relatively water-resistant for many chicken breeds and can keep the bird reasonably dry even in the rain.
Do your chickens have enough sense to come in out of the rain? Probably not. Actually, that your flock would "come in out of the rain" is not necessarily sensible behavior... not for chickens. A rainy day can be a good day for a chicken to forage more widely than normal.
Install a roof to protect your chickens from the elements such as rain or snow. Always ensure the roof is high enough though to allow the chickens to get plenty of natural sunlight. The other obvious benefit of a roof is it will stop rain drenching the chicken run.
Chickens do well protecting themselves in a storm, as long as they have the choices for sheltering. You can close them up in the coop if you prefer; make sure they have food and water available. Some pending storms are so threatening that you want to bring your chickens inside until it passes.
Most coops are ideal for chickens during a storm. They're often elevated and do not have glass windows. As for ventilation, you will want to cover any larger open areas with a board, but keep some ventilation so your girls have fresh air.
You can train your flock to go into the coop at night by using light. At dusk, turn on a little light within the coop. Something as simple as hanging a small battery powered torch from the coop roof should work. As it gets dark in your yard, the hens will be naturally drawn to the light and will return to the coop.
In fact, there doesn't seem to be much of a change in the number of eggs they lay regardless if the day is sunny, rainy, snowy, hot, or cold. The only time it usually drops off is when the chickens are molting.
Do Chickens Like Getting In Water? No, chickens with access to bodies of water are not known for getting into it. They avoid it, and also avoid rain, seeking shelter under bushes, in pens, or other sheltered areas. The reason chickens avoid rain is that their feathers are not waterproof.
Grass in the chicken run.
The obvious answer might seem to be grass, and if you have a big enough area, grass is ideal. Chickens can spend their day happily scratching around for bugs, and creating their own dustbaths in whatever shade they can find.
When water mixes with droppings, it creates an ammonia smell. In the coop, moisture control can be a constant challenge. Humidity, water from founts, spills, damp hay, piling bedding, tracked-in mud or even an egg break contributes to moisture in the coop triggering the smell. Regular cleaning is the best defense.
While not common, providing chickens a bale of straw or hay can be a good thing. It's an inexpensive way to provide food and a little entertainment to these animals. A bale in a chicken run gives birds the opportunity to search for a variety of tasty treats.
Chickens can recognise up to 100 faces
These faces included those of humans! Chickens even remember positive or negative experiences with the faces they recognise and pass that information on to members of their flocks.
You can dry your chicken by putting them in a box with a heat lamp or placing them by a fire (this is difficult unless you have trained your chicken to sit still). Generally a warm room is best way to dry a chicken quickly.
What to do. It might be wise to plan on keeping your chickens inside the coop on wet, windy, cold days or during periods of extended rain. While they stay indoors, you can help them fight off the chilly air with a safe, heated pad to stand on or even a handy heated perch.
You should open up the coop and let the chickens out into the run about the same time each morning.
On sunny days, chickens will position themselves to absorb the sun's warmth, and on cold nights, they will huddle together in a tight group to share body heat. Chickens can even slightly lower their internal metabolism to better resist cold snaps.
Chickens are busy sleeping at night, and they will not wake up to lay an egg, but gather the strength and energy they need to lay the egg first thing in the morning. With an average production cycle of 26 hours, you can see that your hen will not lay at the exact same time from one day to the next.
Chickens will sleep for as long as it is dark. Most of the time, they sleep completely uninterrupted from dusk until dawn, no matter how short or long the natural night lasts.
Chickens are not solely dependent on chicken coops; however, they will gladly use them, especially for weather protection and a safe place to sleep, which ultimately improves their health, happiness, and overall productivity. So yes, chickens do really need a coop!
Placing Your Feeders & Waterers
They function best if placed in the run instead of inside the coop. Chickens don't usually eat after they go to roost, which is about 30 minutes before dusk. The best place for your feeder and waterer is where your chickens spend the most time during the day.