# Heavy rain



## sandeep (Aug 14, 2013)

It raining quite heavily in England at the moment and my chickens and drenched but still wanting to stay outside, shall I leave them to it , they have access to the coop but have decided they prefer outside


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## GratefulGirl (Sep 10, 2012)

If it is storming drenching flooding rain like we had here today I leave them locked up in the hen house. Once it lets up & it's just the usual rain I let them out. Some of my girls will go out in it & others stay under the hen house which is elevated. I have read of some chicken keepers who let them out regardless even in a hurricane.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

The main thing to be concerned with is the outside temps and wet chickens. If its not warm enough out then the wet feathers can leach body heat very rapidly.

In the heat of Summer its not such a big deal.


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## Apyl (Jun 20, 2012)

I leave my birds outside in the rain if they are more than a few months old. The coop is always open so if they want to go in out of the rain they can. When I have younger birds like younger than 2 months old, I lock them up.


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## sandeep (Aug 14, 2013)

Yeah mine seem to not mind the rain especially the Orpington's who are the youngest at 5 months old. They can go in the coop any time though I just wished after four days of heavy rain it would now let up


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

Chickens, rain...it's as old as time. As long as they have access to shelter when they want it, they can be out in the rain in any season and not suffer from it. 

If it's going to rain all day and they wish to forage, they will stay out in the steady rain and only seek shelter when it's a downpour. If it's going to be sporadic showers, they often will seek shelter when it starts to rain and then come back out when the shower is over. 

I guess they can figure out that it's no sense in getting wet if the rain is going to only last a bit but also no sense in seeking shelter if the rain has set in and is here to stay all day.


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## sandeep (Aug 14, 2013)

Thank you Bee that's what I thought


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