Cold Wet Frizzle - What to do?

loofa

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I have a little banty frizzle rooster who I rescued a couple of months ago from a bad situation. He is going into his first winter and the poor thing is just not made for Pacific Northwest rain. Despite a covered porch he could retreat to he has been huddling under a tree that is not keeping him dry and I'm worried that he will get sick. What do you all do for your frizzles??? How do you keep them dry and warm? My only other fowl right now are ducks who rejoice in all the wet.
 
I want to add that searching for sweaters, jackets for bantam chickens, almost everything I find is full sized hen saddles. The few sweaters just look like something that will get water soaked, and almost nothing is for little banties. If anyone has links to products, I'm sorry, I don't knit or sew, it would be so appreciated.
 
Hello, how is your little guy holding up? @Debbie292d has experience with frizzles in the cold, I believe.

He may need some extra help keeping warm in the winter, perhaps even brought inside on very cold and rainy nights if he cannot learn to keep himself out of the rain. Does he have a coop to go into for shelter from wind and rain?
 
Hi, he's doing fine so far, but last night I put a heating pad in his sleeping crate (we are in process building a new coop, so for a little bit he's sleeping in a crate). I bought him a chicken sweater, but I haven't used it because well, we live in the PNW and it's so rainy it will just get wet and then he'll have wet knit on him. The new coop will have a large covered run and I may just keep him in there on rainy days (so yeah, most of winter). I think that being wet and cold is more concerning than just cold. You may be right that once it gets icy snowy he may have to come inside.
 
So I know that sometimes sweaters aren’t the best option because they prevent the chickens feathers from fluffing up to lock heat in. However because he is a frizzle, I know his feathers probably don’t fluff the same as regular feathers and don’t lock much heat in anyways, so maybe you could try it and see how it goes.

I agree with you, though, a wet chicken can be dangerous, especially in anything below like 70 degrees. Do keep an eye on him. My pea brained chickens tend to not know that their coop is their best shelter from rain sometimes, either. When it rains you may just have to heard him somewhere dry and sheltered yourself. I end up having to do that when we get downpours.

So you have the ability to run a little heating pad out to his crate, is it an option to get a little heater out for him in an enclosed area? Oil filled radiant heaters work well as they have tip over shut offs usually and settings for a wide range of temps. That way if he does get wet, at least he can dry off somewhere warm.

Another idea, maybe you could enclose the porch somehow to make him a little area he really can’t leave unless you open the door to when it is nice?
 
So I know that sometimes sweaters aren’t the best option because they prevent the chickens feathers from fluffing up to lock heat in. However because he is a frizzle, I know his feathers probably don’t fluff the same as regular feathers and don’t lock much heat in anyways, so maybe you could try it and see how it goes.

I agree with you, though, a wet chicken can be dangerous, especially in anything below like 70 degrees. Do keep an eye on him. My pea brained chickens tend to not know that their coop is their best shelter from rain sometimes, either. When it rains you may just have to heard him somewhere dry and sheltered yourself. I end up having to do that when we get downpours.

So you have the ability to run a little heating pad out to his crate, is it an option to get a little heater out for him in an enclosed area? Oil filled radiant heaters work well as they have tip over shut offs usually and settings for a wide range of temps. That way if he does get wet, at least he can dry off somewhere warm.

Another idea, maybe you could enclose the porch somehow to make him a little area he really can’t leave unless you open the door to when it is nice?
yes, the new coop will have an ability for me to put a little heater of some sort in there. And yeah, he doesn't seem to have the brains to just go one of the MANY sheltered places around the yard when it rains. Gads I love this little fool.
 
yes, the new coop will have an ability for me to put a little heater of some sort in there. And yeah, he doesn't seem to have the brains to just go one of the MANY sheltered places around the yard when it rains. Gads I love this little fool.
Some days I think they’re so smart and I’m so impressed with them. Others idk how they’ve survived as a species :idunno
 

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