How cold is too cold during molt?

[alinas2010]

I've got one I thought was molting, seeing she kept laying in sunny areas, but still felt cold. Upon closer inspection, thinking new rooster's reason for feather loss. She's been quite docile last 4 days. Not roaming around w/others and avoiding him anyway possible.
Brought her in yesterday morn & she's been inside since, sleeping. Have not seen her eat anything I've offered. Not even bites of fav goodies. Crop empty & doesn't seem to have any hard areas around rump. Gave her dose of Nutridrench & put B cell in water. About to go force some water, via syringe, into her.

Aw sorry to hear that. I hope you can find out what is wrong. I also have a sick hen right now. I am bringing her inside tonight as she is not doing any better and temps are dipping pretty low again tonight. She is not eating, so staying warm would be tougher for her, I feel. Hopefully not having to struggle to stay warm will help.

 

[Georgia Chickens]

good luck ❤

She's got a lot of spunk still. Husband was afraid her beak might break, w/amount of force she was jerking her head. We decided not to fight her, possibly stressing her out even more.
TY so much! Prayers much appreciated & welcomed!

 

[Georgia Chickens]

Aw sorry to hear that. I hope you can find out what is wrong. I also have a sick hen right now. I am bringing her inside tonight as she is not doing any better and temps are dipping pretty low again tonight. She is not eating, so staying warm would be tougher for her, I feel. Hopefully not having to struggle to stay warm will help.

Best of luck to you and yours. Will keep you in our prayers!
Thought it'd be less stressful to put mine back in coop w/others. Seems more stressed inside? Temps to drop to 45⁰f tonight.I have heater under coop, for when it gets too cold. Coop is a tiny fortress, will hold 15-20 comfortably. I covered bottom half of air ports w/foam and boards. Left top open, for dust & moisture.

 

[Debbie292d]

Aw sorry to hear that. I hope you can find out what is wrong. I also have a sick hen right now. I am bringing her inside tonight as she is not doing any better and temps are dipping pretty low again tonight. She is not eating, so staying warm would be tougher for her, I feel. Hopefully not having to struggle to stay warm will help.

When you mentioned earlier about having a couple of radiant heaters, we have four of them, one like Cozy Coop in each of the grow-out/breeding pens and a more powerful one in the main coop. That's all our molting hens get if not in the coop. In the coop, that's kept to 40F. If the power goes out, generally, that's not a big deal as long as it's not for hours.

I sure wish molting was a faster process though. I have one that's finally looking normal and she started months ago. Once I had one go nearly a year, but she's weird anyway.

 

[alinas2010]

When you mentioned earlier about having a couple of radiant heaters, we have four of them, one like Cozy Coop in each of the grow-out/breeding pens and a more powerful one in the main coop. That's all our molting hens get if not in the coop. In the coop, that's kept to 40F. If the power goes out, generally, that's not a big deal as long as it's not for hours.

I sure wish molting was a faster process though. I have one that's finally looking normal and she started months ago. Once I had one go nearly a year, but she's weird anyway.

A whole year?! Wow that would drive me crazy! I feel like molting season is at the most inconvenient time. I had one hen molt when she got ill this summer and while I hated that it happened because she was sick, it was really nice not having to worry about her so much. And now that it’s winter she isn’t going to molt since she already did this summer and I’m okay withthat!

I like the cozy coop radiant heaters because they give the chickens a choice to be by them if they want a little warm up. But I absolutely love our dog house heater for the really cold nights when the whole coop just needs to be kept just a bit warmer but not super warm. It’s just about perfect. The oil filled radiant heaters can be a nice tool, too.

 

[alinas2010]

Best of luck to you and yours. Will keep you in our prayers!
Thought it'd be less stressful to put mine back in coop w/others. Seems more stressed inside? Temps to drop to 45⁰f tonight.I have heater under coop, for when it gets too cold. Coop is a tiny fortress, will hold 15-20 comfortably. I covered bottom half of air ports w/foam and boards. Left top open, for dust & moisture.

Thank you, I will pray for you and yours, also. I think being inside can be more stressful most times. It’s somewhere new, away from their flock, they hate routine changes. Poor things, they just don’t know that we have the best intentions for them!

 

[Debbie292d]

The oil filled radiant heaters can be a nice tool, too.

That's what's in the coop. I have one under my desk, too, from NewAir. It's been going great for eight years! We just keep it nearly to its lowest setting, which keeps it at 40F. It's a lot for me, too, so I don't have to haul water to the coop twice a day all winter, and no frozen eggs. We let them outside to free-range if it's 20F or higher and not windy, but I'll see them go back in for a few minutes, then back out again, so guess they're warming their feet or whatever, lol.

 

[BackyardinWales]

So actually, we do have two sides of the run wrapped - one is only partially wrapped, but that side is guarded by our house/concrete wall/fence. A third side is smacked up against the neighboring garage, the other is blocked by the coop for the most part and the whole set up is actually situated right between our house/concrete wall and the neighboring property’s garage, (which we also own). Only partially covered, though, bc it’s chainlink. They’re actually pretty protected compared to out in the yard, I just think it’s the windchill maybe? And it’s nonstop windy this week. Here are pictures for reference, all old pics, but everything is still basically the same as far as the run goes.View attachment 3992820View attachment 3992821View attachment 3992822View attachment 3992823View attachment 3992824

Love the barn picture on the wall, and the snow! Wow.