Hen recovered from sour crop and going back to coop in cold weather

[tjmb1414]

Good Morning,
One of my hens has thankfully recovered from sour crop. However, she’s been in my bathroom for the past 12 days & I’m worried about putting her back in the coop after being in warmer temperatures for so long. I’m in Ballston Spa, NY and nights are very cold here. I just want to ensure she is acclimated correctly back to the cold.
Any advice is much appreciated.
Best,
Tracey

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Find a cool yet protected place to house her for at least two days like a basement, garage, etc.
Another option would be to let her out after it warms for the day and put her inside at night. And turn the heat down in the part of the house with the bathroom.
You could do that by closing the heat register and cracking the window.

 

[vantain]

I had to do this recently, when nights were in the teens below zero, but days would warm up to single digits. I waited till around 2pm, an then took my girl out for a short time, to be with her flock mates. In the single digits days, maybe 20-30 minutes. It was enough time for her to fellowship with the others, and assert her dominance as the lead hen. After her outing, I brought her back into the house for the night, and repeated the next day. Once we hit the mid 20s, I let her out for half the day, and when the night was only going to be in the teens, I let her stay outside, but allowed her to roost beneath a Sweeter Heater to help a bit. She did very well.

Even being away from the flock for most of the days she spent inside (about five days), she never lost her lead hen status. As soon as she was back with the girls, they just paid her respects and acted like she was never gone.

Not sure where yours is in the pecking order, and that may be an issue or not, depending on the hens status before you removed her from the flock.

In the house, she was in a non heated room in my basement that was about 55-60 degrees.