Injury healed - question on temperature

[sweethavenchick]

Hi, I need some advice. I have a Silkie hen (4 years old) who was injured 5 weeks ago. The flock was free ranging and ended up in the horse pasture, and my Silkie was stepped on by my miniature horse. I was in the barn at the time and heard a lot of noise, and the chickens scattered, all except my one. She had dragged herself outside of the fence to safety, and I knew she was badly hurt. She had broken her left leg, and I found a bird vet who I drove 3 hours round trip to every week for 4 weeks. The vet put a little cast/stint on her leg, and helped get my Silkie walking on her own again. Even though, she still has a limp (cast is off), she is able to get around. Now that we have been through all this, my Silkie is healed and otherwise healthy, maybe just a little lonely.

My concern is this: I have housed my Silkie in our daylight basement which is a little cooler than our house temperature. So she has lived in 55-60 degree temp, and it is 30 degrees outside here, and gets much colder at night. I would prefer not to have a chicken in my house all winter. I am concerned with getting her adjusted to outside temperatures so that she can reintegrate back with the flock of 9 other hens. We have had some warmer days, high 30's, so I brought her out to mingle with the flock for an hour. So, I am not sure if it is safe to put her outside in the colder winter temperatures with her being used to warmer temperatures for the past 5 weeks. Maybe I should just put her out for a while each day, and bring her in at night??? Also, there are a few bully hens in the flock that seem to chase her a bit, and I don't want them to hurt her. Don't get me wrong, I would keep her in my house all winter if it was the best thing for her, but I think she is lonely, misses doing regular chicken stuff, and has lost a little weight, in comparison to the others. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. She is currently sleeping in her cozy habitat in the basement but I would like to get her back to normal. Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

I like your idea of putting her out in the day time, but I would try putting her in a large crate for a few nights with a smaller wattage heat lamp just over one end of the crate where she could get away from it. I think she should do fine without the heat if you choose not to do that. Re-introducing can be hard for one chicken, and I sometimes use a crate in the coop just for that.

 

[sweethavenchick]

Hi Eggcessive,
Thank you so much for your response and advice! Sorry I am just getting back to you. The weather here has been quite warm (40 degrees) and my Silkie seemed to do well with staying outside with the flock for the entire day. I watched quite a bit to make sure noone was picking on her, and it seemed to be going well. I decided to let her spend the night in the coop and I am happy to report it went great! She is fully integrated back into the flock with no problem with the temperature difference or getting along with the others! I feel pretty lucky. I am glad she is back outside and acting like a chicken should! Thanks again!