Brutal Winters and Chicken missing feathers

[Kjm279]

I have a chicken that is basically bald on both side due to being attacked. She’s healing well but we are in MN and do not heat the coop. She’s been in our house while healing (we had 3 die and one other injured that’s been moved back into the coop) but I’d like to get her back outside now that I know that she’s fine from the attack. I’m worried about her getting cold though. It’s currently above freezing in the coop during the day, near freezing over night but could drop down into the teens at any time. She’s a silver laced Wyandotte and this will be her second winter, I know she’s hardy. Is she going to be ok out there with missing so many feathers?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Can you post pictures?
I'm not a fan of heat for chickens but in your bird's case, I'd probably keep her inside till she regrows some feathers. On top of that, since she has been inside, she isn't acclimated to those temperatures. Even a fully feathered bird shouldn't go from room temperature into a Minnesota winter without gradual acclimation.

 

[CindyinSD]

How weatherproof is your coop? Would you have room to stack hay/straw bales against the north wall and maybe put some cubbies in them for threadbare little chickens to roost in? TBH I’d be concerned for her, too. An infrared heat panel might help, if you can run an outdoor extension cord. They’re kind of pricey, but safe & don’t draw a lot of power.

 

[Shezadandy]

My suggestion would be a hen saddle which will help keep her friends from picking any regrowth she gets. I like the HenSaver ones- they last and seem to be well-tolerated by my girls. Unless she's truly huge, I recommend going with the medium size. The large ones tend to be too long for my Wyandottes, and out of my 100+ chicken non-bantam flock, only 5 of my hens would be big enough for their large. If you get it too big, they slip out of it easier... and it will rub the top of their tail. They do come in "hand made winter model" which as a layer of fleece on the underside. For whatever reason the website is down at the moment, but check back.

http://www.hensaver.com/hen-apron-saddle-styles-colors-prices.html (there's a picture on this site, above the 'predator eyes' picture) I believe you'd go to the 'custom' area to order a fleece one, or you can just call them.

As for the heater option: This one is fairly inexpensive. I'd wait for a spell of warmer air that will last a couple days- or of course you can just keep her in.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...m_term=tractorsupply&utm_content=All Site TSC

 

[aart]

On top of that, since she has been inside, she isn't acclimated to those temperatures. Even a fully feathered bird shouldn't go from room temperature into a Minnesota winter without gradual acclimation.

This^^^
Plus she'll need to be reintegrated into the pecking order.

 

[Ted_Harrell]

Mrs. Keri, I totally agree with the above posters, you should gradually re-introduce her to the cooler temps outside and a hen saddle will give her feathers time to regrow. I don't know if you have extra accommodations for her to be seen and not pecked at but good luck on reintroducing her...

 

[Kjm279]

I went to bed last night. I will catch up in a min. I really appreciate the responses.

 

[Kjm279]

I can post pics in a little bit.

Shes been inside the house for 3 days. Today is the 4th. The other chicken that was injured and put back out was accepted by the flock immediately and she is actually a “new” girl and really low on the pecking order so I never even thought about that part.

She was acclimated to the colder weather but has been in 60° now for the past two days.

As for the coop. It is draft free. We have winterized it already. Straw stacks along the north and east sides (the south side is naturally well protected by our landscaping). The west side leads into the run which we’ve wrapped completely to keep out wind and snow. We have a digital thermometer sensor in the coop that sends info to a unit in our kitchen.

I’d really prefer not to do any heat. I will look at these saddles.

 

[Kjm279]

This is our coop. The front side is north facing and the windows can be closed.

I tried to take a pic of Oreo’s sides but she’s arranged her other feathers well to cover up. The bald spots are under her wings and up to her back but he back is fully feathered and she arranged her feathers to cover up her sides Hopefully that means she’ll be fine.

 

[CindyinSD]

If you haven’t already done this (and you seem pretty on top of things) consider leaning some scraps of board leaning against the coop walls for her to hide in. I had a bunch of girls in my coop who preferred these hideouts. I think it’s just warmer in there with two or three girls snuggled together.

The coop was really crowded because of sudden early winter—you probably got that same nasty storm a day after we did. I had to move them out of their summer/fall tractors before I got their new place done. Anyway, I put up the boards to create new spaces and prevent trouble while we got their new place done. It worked well, but I was really glad to get them moved. Now I need to find a way to create cubbies in a greenhouse.