Info re bad weather

TMcGee

Question from a beginner (about to take delivery of three hens) what will my hens do in bad weather? will they take cover ? should I be providing cover apart from the coop, as todays weather hail and rain makes me wonder what I should have in place

Hen Pecked

I would provide them shelter as well as their coop. My girls are not too clever when it comes to working out why they are wet through and cold when they have been out in the rain all day.
If you can't offer them additional shelter then make sure the coop is dry and warm for them at bed time.
Some breeds are more hardy than others and can withstand really cold weather.
Hope this helps.

solarbats

I have yet to meet a hen who will use any shelter provided in the bad weather:mad:
Mine love to come into the conservatory when I'm home though - I have a "comfort box" made up all the time in the corner too:o

Don't worry if yours stand there looking totally miserable and soaked - it seems to be the chicken thing to do:D

Kerry

Hi, we have covered half of there run so they can keep dry, it's quite funny our hens hate getting wet if it starts to rain they run and hide as far under the coop as they can, my girls are strange.....half the run is covered as i said but they still think they might get wet so all nine (used to be 12) of them get under the coop which is about 4 foot x 3 foot and they will not come out until it stops
Kerry.

Littlechick

Yes, best to give them the shelter. They may not realise what it is for at first, and may stand in the rain getting wet. Really depends on where they are coming from ie if they have seen rain before and know that they need to keep dry. Batties will just get wet in the beginning which is a problem in the winter as they have no flesh/fat on them to get warm again if they are wet through. A covered run is also so much easier to keep clean!!

TMcGee

Kerry wrote:

Hi, we have covered half of there run so they can keep dry, it's quite funny our hens hate getting wet if it starts to rain they run and hide as far under the coop as they can, my girls are strange.....half the run is covered as i said but they still think they might get wet so all nine (used to be 12) of them get under the coop which is about 4 foot x 3 foot and they will not come out until it stops
Kerry.

Thanks for the advice, will build some sort of cover against eliments,its a large run 20foot by 15foot so will have to think about how to construct.

mollydolly

my hens all spend rainy days in our sunning area which has a glass roof, covered in grape vine....or they perch under our garden table. They still wander out into the rain but seem to seek somewhere dry for their rests. So as a general rule they sort of seek shelter, there are no secret nuclear physicists hiding in my flock. Couple more brain cells and we would have a cabbage sometimes.

My hens have a pen attached to their coop where they are locked in at night, I have covered this with clear plastic ( I got corrugated sheets from B&Q just £8 each.) This keeps their food dry which is important or it goes mouldy. Also chicken poo and rain make a huge stink. A dry surface that you can dig and take away makes keeping them clean much easier. Sometimes the hens huddle in it to stay dry too.