Chickens die when it rains

[Masterjoe]

So I have my cornish rocks in a covered chicken tractor. Have chicken wire for sides and corrugated tin roof. They been fine here almost 2 weeks. Birds are about 3 weeks old. We got an in of rain yesterday and at the end of the storm it was cooler outside obviously. I had 6 dead chickens. Today its 63 outside and by 12:00 I have 3 more dead. I'm not happy. Any suggestions or anyone else have this problem? This is not my first rodeo dealing with this issue. Need a fix. Thinking about laying 2 large tarps over it on cooler rainy days to keep it a bit warmer inside. I had 48 birds in a 14 ft 9 in by 8 ft tractor 24 inches high. I now have 37 chickens.

 

[hysop]

Oh is the tractor coop not covered?

This year I also had a broad breasted poult die after it got sick from hard rain. I had the tractor coop covered but it still got wet from one of the sides.

Thankfully it was just that one and it didn't/doesn't happen every single time it rains.

 

[nuthatched]

3 weeks is too young to be outside with out some heat or dry place to get out of the weather.

 

[Tonyroo]

Can't let chicks get wet at all, only if they can dry completely in a few minutes. Wet chicks lose there heat rapidly even in warm conditions.

So your tractor needs to be water proof, meaning they won't get any moisture on them.