My poor little polish is having issues adjusting to the cold! :[

[foxypoproxy]

Ive never really had any issues with chickens getting use to the cold here in CT but i have a bantam polish roo that seems to be having a hard time.
In a way its kind of my fault because we have had to keep him inside most of the time while his coop was being built.
So hes gotten use to are warm comfy house and all the attention.
Now hes in the garage with the others and they will be moving into the coop and run tomorrow.
Ever since i moved him into the garage he is very quiet. Hes a lap chicken and loves human interaction.
So he is kinda depressed we left him there. He is all puffed up and shaking. But hes not exposed to any drafts.
I worry about him adjusting fast enough. I keep having to hold him to warm him up.
And once i start doing that, he gets lively again, but then he doesn't want to go back after that

.
I put a bunch of straw around him to keep him warm and also added vitamins to his water, hoping that will help him abit.

How long do you think it will take for him to grow in his winter feathers?
I feel so bad for him, but i know he needs to adjust, so i'm trying to be a tough momma and let go.
Is there anything i can do to help him? I know polish aren't very cold hardy

P.S i know chickens can survive in very cold temperatures.
I have chickens for years and never had an issue with the cold.
But i think hes been alittle temperature shocked.

 

[BHep]

IMO....Polish are not that cold hardy. He may need a heat source.
Also...maybe he needs to find a buddy or 2 to cuddle with and keep warm. Was he keep alone when he was inside?

 

[SteveBaz]

B-HEP hit it on the head. IMO....Polish are not that cold hardy. He may need a heat source.
Also...maybe he needs to find a buddy or 2 to cuddle with and keep warm. Was he keep alone when he was inside?

You can't really single out a bird (polish) and keep them inside and acclimate them for that and then just throw him out with the other girls. Your polish is alone because it created the bond with you instead of with the other girls and now its out of the loop with the flock and not considered part of the group. She will need her own group to have snuggle companions. I would right now put a little stuffed animal until you get a couple or at least another baby her age to bond to other than you. If you had a companion and a warm house and treats and pets and loves and all this individual attention and then get thrown out in the garage in a different temperature and with strangers and be happy? I think not. Good luck​

 

[foxypoproxy]

Quote:
I know polish need other polish, in the spring i was planning getting him some friends.
I really wanted to get him a female companion but its hard to find bantam polish, its cold so no shipping, and i feel more comfortable hatching some girls out for him so no more disease is brought in.

Yes sadly i had to keep him alone while he was inside.
Long story short, i found him, we think he was abandoned because we put up posters and everything and no one claimed him.
We had to quarantine him from my other chicken and when that happened we found out he was sick so he had to be isolated for a bit.
He has been in my room with me so i could keep him company.
I would have moved him with the others sooner but we had an outbreak of fowl pox so i couldn't put him with them.

The girls in the garage are also new and were also being quarantined when this was all going on, so i couldn't really put him with them until now.

Hes about 7 months old or more.

 

[foxypoproxy]

Quote:
You can't really single out a bird (polish) and keep them inside and acclimate them for that and then just throw him out with the other girls. Your polish is alone because it created the bond with you instead of with the other girls and now its out of the loop with the flock and not considered part of the group. She will need her own group to have snuggle companions. I would right now put a little stuffed animal until you get a couple or at least another baby her age to bond to other than you. If you had a companion and a warm house and treats and pets and loves and all this individual attention and then get thrown out in the garage in a different temperature and with strangers and be happy? I think not. Good luck

No ones been totally integrated yet because everyone was in quarantine.
They are waiting in the garage so tomorrow i can put them all together.

"If you had a companion and a warm house and treats and pets and loves and all this individual attention and then get thrown out in the garage in a different temperature and with strangers and be happy? I think not. Good luck"
I wish you didn't say this so bluntly because there isn't much i could really do about it.
I had found him, he was sick, then he recovered but then i bought more chickens so he would have more friends (most of my other chickens got killed by raccoons so i was only left with one other one).
So then the new chickens needed to be quarantined.
But then one had fowl pox so that delayed him going into the garage to get acclimated to the temperature before it got this cold.

So its not like they were all one flock and i decided to take him and have him inside for no reason just to throw him out in the cold without knowing anyone.
Hes in a separate cage but next to them so they can see each other.

Hes also not a baby, hes an adult

 

[SteveBaz]

I wish you didn't say this so bluntly because there isn't much i could really do about it.

I did not mean to be blunt that was as much as make the point and it was not meant at you as much as showing you he had all the goodies and then the garage is why he is sad. Sorry really.​

 

[foxypoproxy]

Quote:
http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k632/stevebaslow/Imsorry-1.gif I did not mean to be blunt that was as much as make the point and it was not meant at you as much as showing you he had all the goodies and then the garage is why he is sad. Sorry really.

Its ok, i think i'm just alittle defensive because i'm stressed/worried about him. If i could have, i would have gotten him more acclimated, but there was no where else to put him but my room.
I really care about him, hes one of my favorite chickens, and i don't want people to think i would just throw him into the cold all alone without thinking about it.

I've stuffed his cage full of hay/straw but is there anything else i could do other then that?
I don't think adding a heat source would help at all, it would probably just make it harder for him to get use to it.
It sucks that October/November got cold early this year...

 

[comptonsgonecountry]

Really, POLISH aren't that cold hardy?

I beg to differ... I have a hen that refuses the coop and will only go roost in the tree. It's been in the 30's here at night and she's just fine. She hates any type of confinement. I have even tried an empty horse stall for her to roost in but she took for that one tree. She did manage to coop up with the rest of the flock during that bizarre snow storm we had come through. She seems like she knows what she wants and she is happy.

I'm sure there are exceptions when it comes to chickens. Yes, she was my shadow when she was a chick. She still is... she will follow me through out my chores around the farm and the rest of the flock is close behind. She is my hardcore chicken for sure. Even the roo wont try to control her. He just lets her do her thing

 

[teach1rusl]

You mentioned not wanting to use a heat source, but...

It's not just chicks that need to be weaned down to colder temps. Any chicken (or cat or dog) that is use to 70 degree temps and then goes straight into much colder temps is going to have a hard time. Now, I don't know that this is your case...maybe you're just talking a 10 or 20 degree difference??? But if you're talking 30 or 40 degree difference in temps, I'd offer a small wattage lamp, set far enough away to provide a gradual drop in temps, almost like you'd do with older chicks who are transitioning to the outdoors.
If he had a buddy, it wouldn't be as difficult thanks to snuggling heat. But he doesn't have that right now, so if he was use to 70, I'd shoot for 50 for a week or so, then lower. Just my suggestion. And I do like the idea of stuffed animal...

 

[foxypoproxy]

Quote:
Lol ya ive heard mixed reviews.
All the information online and even hatcherys say they arn't very cold hardy but then i have heard people say they do ok.
Its mostly can issue if they get their crests wet and because their feathering is different from other chickens so they can catch drafts more.
Once he gets properly acclimated i'm pretty sure he will be ok