Bringing a hen inside during a cold spell

[DesertSilkieHen]

My 7 year old silkie hen looked very cold and lethargic this morning after an extremely cold night. She's the lowest ranking and a little frail, so I was worried about her dying in the -30F with windchill, -10F without wind temperatures. I brought her inside and she perked up and has been happily eating and drinking.

It's going to be in the single digits tomorrow, teens Sat, 30 Sun/Mon, then back into the 40s/50s starting Tuesday.

I don't want to put her back out in the single digits, but I also don't want her to acclimate to my 60F house and then freeze if I put her outside at 30F. She's spent her life in AZ so this cold is new for her.

How do other people navigate putting a temporary house chicken back outside?

 

[CoopBoots]

Following for a similar situation (mine was brooding eggs outside but the weather is snapping COLD and I didn't want her and the eggs vulnerable). What I'm trying is keeping her near a heat lamp in my cold garage where I can keep it warmer, but not super warm, and then kind of weaning her off of it when the temperatures are back to "normal" range.

 

[azygous]

I'm glad your hen responded well to warming up. You did the right thing. She was likely sinking into hypothermia. Silkies don't have same type of feathers standard breeds have, so they are a little less able to effectively insulate against extreme temperatures.

To return her to her regular habitat, it would be wise to gradually acclimatize her. You can do that by lowering the temperature where she is indoors or return her to the outdoors with short visits, gradually extending them, much as you would acclimatizing baby chicks to outdoor temps.

 

[DesertSilkieHen]

Following for a similar situation (mine was brooding eggs outside but the weather is snapping COLD and I didn't want her and the eggs vulnerable). What I'm trying is keeping her near a heat lamp in my cold garage where I can keep it warmer, but not super warm, and then kind of weaning her off of it when the temperatures are back to "normal" range.

That's a good call! I can't put my hen in the garage so I have her in my room (I live in a shared house). Acclimating her would involve also acclimating me (lol) but I can bundle up and maybe drop the thermostat by 10 degrees a day for the next couple of days.

 

[DesertSilkieHen]

I'm glad your hen responded well to warming up. You did the right thing. She was likely sinking into hypothermia. Silkies don't have same type of feathers standard breeds have, so they are a little less able to effectively insulate against extreme temperatures.

To return her to her regular habitat, it would be wise to gradually acclimatize her. You can do that by lowering the temperature where she is indoors or return her to the outdoors with short visits, gradually extending them, much as you would acclimatizing baby chicks to outdoor temps.

That makes sense! I'll try a combination of the two. She's in my room/studio apartment so I'm not keen on letting it get too cold, but I'll drop the temp by 10F a day over the next few days.

 

[DesertSilkieHen]

Thoughts on shorter-term stints indoors? If I have a particularly cold-looking chicken, how long can they stay inside before they would need to acclimate?

Is it fine to bring them inside to warm up for, say, 30 min? An hour?

 

[alinas2010]

Glad I can across this. Following to see any advice here. I have 4 chickens that slept inside last night after it was -30s outside. I checked on them and found ice forming on their feathers. I’m so ashamed our coop isn’t ventilated well. Now I’m paying the price and having them sleep in our basement last night and tonight while the weather is crazy cold here. Going to address the problem next week when the weather is back in the 40s. Luckily we got them in before frostbitten. I put them back out late morning since it’s only in the negative teens and they seemed to do okay.

 

[azygous]

Yes, quick warmups are perfectly safe, and necessary sometimes. You will know if your chicken is suffering from being too long in a warm house by the look of their comb and wattles. Instead of the dusky red of a normal comb, it will turn bright cherry red when they are overheated. They will also likely pant or hold their beak open.

Remember the rule. Chickens don't do wide temperature spreads in a short period, especially cold to very warm. They handle warm to cold better, but gradual acclimatizing is better unless you have a hypothermia or hyperthermia emergency.

This is something to remember when we get on the other side of this arctic front. If it warms rapidly after the cold front, watch your chickens for heat stress and be ready to treat if you see them acting drunk and wobbly. Those are the symptoms of both hot and cold stress. The treatment is warm sugar water with electrolytes.

 

[DesertSilkieHen]

Yes, quick warmups are perfectly safe, and necessary sometimes. You will know if your chicken is suffering from being too long in a warm house by the look of their comb and wattles. Instead of the dusky red of a normal comb, it will turn bright cherry red when they are overheated. They will also likely pant or hold their beak open.

Remember the rule. Chickens don't do wide temperature spreads in a short period, especially cold to very warm. They handle warm to cold better, but gradual acclimatizing is better unless you have a hypothermia or hyperthermia emergency.

This is something to remember when we get on the other side of this arctic front. If it warms rapidly after the cold front, watch your chickens for heat stress and be ready to treat if you see them acting drunk and wobbly. Those are the symptoms of both hot and cold stress. The treatment is warm sugar water with electrolytes.

Thank you so much! I've got a cold little rooster on a 30 min house warmup right now and wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing. I just moved to the midwest and have never dealt with temps like this before!

I have the inside temp set to the 50s, which seems to be pretty comfortable for them. And they've been getting vitamins and electrolytes in their water.

I'm good at watching for heat stress--- I'm used to keeping chickens alive in 110F--- but cold is a different beast entirely.