-0 temps/sick hen

[judevie]

We are in Iowa where the high temp today is -4F with wind chills around -20F. When I checked on my hens today, one of my older hens who has been losing weight had frozen feathers on her back. The other 10 hens were fine, but one appers to have frostbite. Since I'm not sure if she's been eating, I brought her in and set her up in a dog kennel is the basement. Now I'm worried about putting her back outside, as I've gotten her to eat a little and she doesn't seem sick. She's been inside for a couple hours and the temp outside is below zero. Will she be able to acclimate and be okay tonight? It's supposed to be -8 F with wind chills at -30 F.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would get her back out there. The longer she's in the more she will get used to warmer temperatures. It's one of the many reasons I never add extra heat to my birds.

Seeing frost on her feathers means 2 things, there's a bit too much moisture in the coop, maybe, and she's retaining her body heat enough that frost on her back doesn't melt which is a good thing. I always see some frostbite when temperatures fall below -10. Most is mild and hardly noticed.

Cold chickens will sit hunched up to warm themselves up. They can appear sick but aren't. If they get up to eat some scratch I toss out I know they are okay.

 

[PirateGirl]

If the chickens are locked in their coop at night they are out of the wind and do not feel the "wind chill" temps, just the ambient air temps.

If you choose to put her back outside I would do it during the warmest part of the day and hopefully at a time when you can observe her and determine if she is doing ok or in distress.

 

[judevie]

I would get her back out there. The longer she's in the more she will get used to warmer temperatures. It's one of the many reasons I never add extra heat to my birds.

Seeing frost on her feathers means 2 things, there's a bit too much moisture in the coop, maybe, and she's retaining her body heat enough that frost on her back doesn't melt which is a good thing. I always see some frostbite when temperatures fall below -10. Most is mild and hardly noticed.

Cold chickens will sit hunched up to warm themselves up. They can appear sick but aren't. If they get up to eat some scratch I toss out I know they are okay.

Thank you, it's as warm as it's going to get today right now, so I'm going to put her back out and keep an eye on things.