Hen not well. Sitting on ground all day.

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Today is supposed to only be 1F, and she has been in a crate with a sweeter heater on top for the entire night. I'm reluctant to let her out today, since it may be a bit of a shock going from the warmth of the heater to the single digit temps. She wants out though.
 
Wyorp Rock said:
I'm sorry that she's not improving a lot. Giving wet feed is a good way to help keep them hydrated.
That's quite cold, if you let her out, do you think she would return to the cage on her own accord?
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Nope..she goes straight out into the run, gets on a roost and just sits there all hunched up for the rest of the day. You would think they would go where they find warmth, but they don't seem to be that bright when it comes to that kind of decision making. Right now, in her little cage beneath the Sweeter Heater, it is around 25F, which is noticeably warmer than the run right now which is sitting at 5F.
 
Well..we never got above -2F so far today. I decided to let her out of the cage, since the coop itself is sitting at 12F. The sweeter heater warms her from above, but the cage is a wire kennel, so she is more exposed to the coop temperature around her. I think it does take the edge off for her at night. She left the cage, jumped up on the coop roost, and is now just sitting there. I'll continue to observe her, and will probably put her back in the kennel for the night. Or...just let her be and see what happens. At these temperatures, the other 7 chickens are mostly just sitting around staying warm. They occasionally saunter off to the waterer and feeder, then go back to sitting. So the sitting part I'm not too concerned about, since this is normal when it is very cold. The issue I have with her, is that she sits, and never visits the waterer or feeder for the entire day, when the others do. I give her the warm, wetted mash in the morning and evening, and she gobbles that up just fine.
 
This is the setup with kennel and heater, with Gwyneth now up on the roost.
87F4E05D-C6E8-414F-975B-DC761DF75ADA.jpeg
 
Going to try something different tonight. I put the sweeter heater over one side of that roost bar. I figured it would let Gwyneth stay there with the others, and still have a little warmth above her. Of course some of the others will benefit as well..since it is supposed to get down to -12 tonight. I know she is happier with everyone. She just hates being in that kennel. I was able to get her to eat again tonight, from the yogurt cup. She still would not go out and eat at the feeder. I did see her drink water from the watering cup I had in the cage though, so that is good.

Right now they are playing the roosting rumble, so I'll go out later when it settles down and is dark, and make sure Gwyneth is still under the heater.
 
Day 5 with my hen. Tail still down, but more alert although maybe that's wishful thinking. Day 4 of Antibiotics (I accidentally aspirated her w PolyVisol on Monday evening and started her to ward off Pneumonia.) Still giving her vitamins 2x a day using a smaller syringe this time (better control where it goes) and nebulizing her for 20 minutes each evening. We are entering the worst of the weather tonight and into Sunday. Husband is going to build a greenhouse type thing for them in the horse stall where they live sometime today and we will put our oil heater out there for therm. Hopefully she recovers by Monday of whatever is going on because I will stop treatment then if there continues to be no visible change. The weather is supposed to improve a lot next week. Hoping for good things.

How is your bird? @vantain
 
She seems to have done fine through the night, on the roost, with the sweeter heater above her. Right now, it is -9F outside, but the coop itself is 15F. So where does she go? Yep..out into the run where it is currently 6F. Better than -9 I guess, but I don't get why she wouldn't want to be in where it is warmer. Actually, they are all out in the run. Gwyneth is just sitting in the corner of the run, on the ground. I haven't fed her yet this morning, so I'll do that here in a little while. I wanted to see if she would go eat and drink on her own this morning. Nope. I wouldn't say she is lethargic really. She is sitting there, but she is alert, preening herself, and just watching the others. Her eyes are not closed or anything. I just wish she would go to the feeder and waterer on her own.
 

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