HARD moult.

[lauren212]

One of my hens is going through a hard moult. There are many bald patches on her body. I don’t usually have heat in my coop for them but will she be ok if it goes down to -18 C tonight? I could bring her in the garage for the night . I have 5 hens in total and she’s the only one that’s half naked. Brrr.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

As a general rule hens huddle and snuggle on the roost, sharing their body heat.

 

[theoldchick]

She might need one of these!

If you have a large woolen sock laying around you can make a sock sweater as an emergency make-do warmer.

 

[pineapple416]

-18 C sounds pretty cold...usually chickens are fine in cold feather as long as they are dry but you might want to think about giving them a heat lamp or maybe moving her to your garage if she is mid-molt right now. We had a hen the was molting while we got snow and she was okay. Chickens are pretty cold hardy for the most part.

 

[lauren212]

-18 C sounds pretty cold...usually chickens are fine in cold feather as long as they are dry but you might want to think about giving them a heat lamp or maybe moving her to your garage if she is mid-molt right now. We had a hen the was molting while we got snow and she was okay. Chickens are pretty cold hardy for the most part.

Thanks. I put her in the garage for the night. Just in case. She looks nice and warm now!

 

[aart]

Have had birds go thru winter here with bare backs, they were fine.
Temps were rugged that year, some below 0F.

Silkies may benefit from sweaters.
But for normally feathered birds it can compress their feathers so they can't hold their own body heat, sweaters not a good idea for them IMO.