Question
We’ve left our five-month-old-ish chickens outside in the rain. They don’t appear to want to go back to the shelter of the coop, and they aren’t huddling under trees, or anything, just rooting around in the grass for bugs and plants, as usual.
Is this okay? Going by human logic, they’d catch a cold, but it probably doesn’t work this way for chickens. So is it okay to leave them out in the rain; will they be okay? Do they need to go undercover in heavy rain, and are they smart enough to do it by themselves in the event?
Thanks!
Answer
My Mum had chickens as she was a child by her parents. She told me a lot of times that she could see how the weather will be because of the chickens.
If the weather will be rainy chickens have a greasy secretion that they will cover their feathers with. They go with their pecker through the feathers and distribute this secretion. So if you see this before the rain begins, you not have to be worried about them, they are "waterproof" then.
Answered By - Allerleirauh