Can extreme cold make a chicken sick? Help!

[chickenpotter]

The coop is shown in the picture with my name etc. there is a long window on the back the I shut a couple of nights ago when I knew the temps would dip. I left the two windows in front half open. I clean the poop out of the coop (with a little red scoop! Couldn't resist the rhyme!) on an almost daily basis. There is a droppings board. Sometimes I miss a day or two, but it's pretty clean in there. There are shavings on the floor. Do you think the half open windows on the front provide enough ventilation?

 

[TwoCrows]

Is she the lowest in the order of birds? Sometimes the higher ranking birds can bully the lower ones away from the food and water. Especially during the winter when they are all cooped up together and bored. There is nothing to do and they get cranky. If a bird goes without enough access to food and water, even for a couple of days in brutally cold weather, they are going to get cold and sick.

Make sure you have enough room for all your birds. 5 square feet per bird in the coop, 10 square feet per bird in the run. I keep several feeding and watering stations in my coop and run. The higher ranking birds are always making the lower birds wait or even run them off. They get protective of food and water during times of stress. And since the higher ranking birds can't guard all the feeders and waterers at the same time, there is always places for the lower birds to get sustenance. A few days of going hungry and thirsty in cold weather can kill them.

For now, keep this one warm and get as much food and water in her as possible. If she doesn't get back to her normal self in the next 24 hours, she could be suffering from an over load of worms or even have coccidisos. Have you wormed your birds this year? Worms are incredibly devastating on chickens and do kill them over time. I would get them all wormed soon if you haven't done so in a while. Coccidiosis will have them off their feed and water, but generally they have diarrhea and sometimes with blood. You said her poop looked ok, so probably not cocci.

Do you keep a rooster? If so, give her a good once over looking for injuries from the spurs. The roos can sometimes puncture the skin under the wings or on the abdomen. This would cause her internal infection.

And while you are checking her, give her abdomen a feel. Make sure she doesnt' feel like a water balloon. (from between the legs to the vent is the abdomen. Feel on the outside and you can compare her to others in your flock)

Keep us posted with anything other symptoms!

 

[chickenpotter]

Is she the lowest in the order of birds? Sometimes the higher ranking birds can bully the lower ones away from the food and water. Especially during the winter when they are all cooped up together and bored. There is nothing to do and they get cranky. If a bird goes without enough access to food and water, even for a couple of days in brutally cold weather, they are going to get cold and sick.

Make sure you have enough room for all your birds. 5 square feet per bird in the coop, 10 square feet per bird in the run. I keep several feeding and watering stations in my coop and run. The higher ranking birds are always making the lower birds wait or even run them off. They get protective of food and water during times of stress. And since the higher ranking birds can't guard all the feeders and waterers at the same time, there is always places for the lower birds to get sustenance. A few days of going hungry and thirsty in cold weather can kill them.

For now, keep this one warm and get as much food and water in her as possible. If she doesn't get back to her normal self in the next 24 hours, she could be suffering from an over load of worms or even have coccidisos. Have you wormed your birds this year? Worms are incredibly devastating on chickens and do kill them over time. I would get them all wormed soon if you haven't done so in a while. Coccidiosis will have them off their feed and water, but generally they have diarrhea and sometimes with blood. You said her poop looked ok, so probably not cocci. 

Do you keep a rooster? If so, give her a good once over looking for injuries from the spurs. The roos can sometimes puncture the skin under the wings or on the abdomen. This would cause her internal infection.

And while you are checking her, give her abdomen a feel. Make sure she doesnt' feel like a water balloon. (from between the legs to the vent is the abdomen. Feel on the outside and you can compare her to others in your flock)

Keep us posted with anything other symptoms!

Thank you for such a thoughtful reply. This bird is definitely one of the two lowest birds in the pecking order. My hens don't spend much time in the coop outside of sleeping and laying. In the morning I let them out into a covered run 4x12 and open the door on that into a 10x10 open run area. I have 7 hens at present and they seem pretty comfortable with this amount of space. In the afternoons I let them out to free range. The food and water are in the covered run. I will have to spend some more time observing, but it seems like they are all getting turns to eat and drink.

I kept my chicken inside for the morning and into the afternoon. For a couple of hours she was just standing there with her eyes closed. I gave her a boiled egg with yogurt. Once she started eating that she seemed to perk up. By early afternoon she was moving about, eating drinking and looking quite normal again. I let her out with the other girls and she seemed fine!

I will keep an eye on her. I didn't feel anything unusual when I checked her over. I hope it was a passing thing.

I don't have a rooster so we can rule out that type of injury.

I did install a heat lamp today in the coop, but only for nights when the temps get really low(for us that's mid teens down to single digits). I also put a thermometer in there so I can monitor the temperature. I really don't plan to use the lamp unless it's wickedly cold as most people have advised against it.

Thanks again and I will keep an observant eye on this hen.

 

[TwoCrows]

Quote: Yes, it does sound like she may be being subjected to bullying. When they recuperate so fast after eating, drinking, warmth and TLC, generally this is the case...they just needed some sustenance.

I would get her back out to the flock as soon as possible so she mixes back in easily enough. I would watch carefully as you may not see she is being bullied. A good way to tell is, go up at roosting time and check crops. Run your hand down the right side of the breast of every bird. They should all have full crops at roosting time. If they don't, they are either sick or being bullied away from the food late in the afternoon. I know my birds tend to start guarding feeders right before roosting time. The higher ranking birds want to make sure THEY get all they need.

So tonight, check crops and see, especially on this bird. If she doesn't have much in her crop, she is either being bullied or is sick in some way. You could always lock her in a cage for an hour before roosting time and see if she eats by herself. If so, she is definitely being bullied.

Keep us posted!

 

[chickenpotter]

Thanks TwoCrows! I think you might be on to something. I washed her vent area this afternoon- it was a mess and I thought she might have vent fleet. Her vent looked fine and at least she is clean. She has some nasty dried stuff on her feathers.
Anyway, while I had her on the table drying after her bath I noticed that she feels skinny in front and her crop seemed to have nothing in it. I offered her the egg and yogurt again and she ate quite a bit. Then outside when she joined the others I noticed one of my Golden Comets chasing her away from some scratch I had put out and the rest of the egg and yogurt that I put out. I am now going to be keeping a close eye on the situation. This one has been bullied in the past, got pecked in the eye once and in general usually gives wide berth to the Golden Comets whose nicknames for a while were "The Mean Girls". I thought that they had stopped that behavior, but I saw it today. I might have to isolate that mean for a bit. I'll keep watching. Thanks so much. Everyone here is so helpful!

 

[chickenpotter]

Vent gleet

 

[TwoCrows]

Good to hear she is feeling better! You may need to separate out the bullies a few hours before roosting time so she is able to get enough food before bedtime. Or you can cage her an hour or so before roosting so she gets time to eat on her own. It is very common for the higher ranking birds to run off the lower ranking ones and especially this time of year, in the winter, birds NEED to get enough to eat and drink. Not enough sustenance and they can end up dying. Cold nights burn lots of calories. And an hour or so before roosting time is when birds will stuff their crops full. The higher ranking birds can become very possessive of food to make sure there is enough for them. So keep an eye on her and the others and make different arrangements if you have to, to make sure she gets enough to eat.

Keep us posted!!

 

[NoFoxesAllowed]

We have only one turkey left out in the cold. (Read my story "Tenacious T" in the "Turkey" catagory!) He is pretty huge, but he seems to do OK in the freezing temps. We added another heat lamp in the coop, but he doesn't sleep under them. I'm thinking that he bumped his head on them when he stood up when the lamp was first installed (he is rather huge). I think he's a pretty quick learner. LOL! I think your hens will do fine out there, as long as you can get them some warmth. I'm still very new to raising these fowl things too! Hope that helps you! God bless, and happy "henning"!

 

[chickenpotter]

Good to hear she is feeling better! You may need to separate out the bullies a few hours before roosting time so she is able to get enough food before bedtime. Or you can cage her an hour or so before roosting so she gets time to eat on her own. It is very common for the higher ranking birds to run off the lower ranking ones and especially this time of year, in the winter, birds NEED to get enough to eat and drink. Not enough sustenance and they can end up dying. Cold nights burn lots of calories. And an hour or so before roosting time is when birds will stuff their crops full. The higher ranking birds can become very possessive of food to make sure there is enough for them. So keep an eye on her and the others and make different arrangements if you have to, to make sure she gets enough to eat. 

Keep us posted!!

I will. As of this evening I went out to the coop to check her crop and it was full. That was such a good suggestion. I think tomorrow evening I will watch them just before they roost. I'm not usually out there until they put themselves to bed, but I'd like to see the dynamics around to feeder at that time. I usually give them some scratch on toward evening to give them a little boost, too.

These are fascinating creatures indeed! I just watched a wonderful video on YouTube last night called The Secret Life of Chickens. It was excellent and showed how intelligent these birds are. It also talked about the pecking order- timely for me!

Well, best to you and your feathered friends!

 

[chickenpotter]

We have only one turkey left out in the cold.  (Read my story "Tenacious T" in the "Turkey" catagory!)  He is pretty huge, but he seems to do OK in the freezing temps.  We added another heat lamp in the coop, but he doesn't sleep under them.  I'm thinking that he bumped his head on them when he stood up when the lamp was first installed (he is rather huge).  I think he's a pretty quick learner.  LOL!  I think your hens will do fine out there, as long as you can get them some warmth.  I'm still very new to raising these fowl things too!  Hope that helps you!  God bless, and happy "henning"!  

Thanks NoFoxes! I will check out your Turkey post, for sure!

I'm on the fence about heat in the coop. I did put a heat lamp out there, but I think I will only use it if we have low teens to single digits which is pretty cold for here- Ricmond Va area. Lots of people have advised against using heat in the coop, but it seems like boosting the temp a few degrees wouldn't hurt if it keeps them from getting frostbite or puts less stress on the birds. This is my first winter with my chickens so I'm still figuring it out, too. I love the BYC community! Everyone is so helpful.

An aside about turkeys: I used to live next door to people who had a flock of them. They came up to our house with regularity to raid the cat food bowl on the porch. So I got to hear them gobble a lot and can do a fairly good gobble. My husband and I were visiting a poultry farm last spring that had a couple of turkeys and I greatly amused him by "talking turkey" to them. I would gobble and they would all gobble back to me. He thought it hilarious! Do you talk to your turkeys? Just wondering!

Stay warm and enjoy your new hobby!