Hi all,
I live in NH. Temps have been 20s at night Lows and 40's highs. I know during the day they are fine but with the night temps as low as they are, my Naked neck came out of the coop this morning sneezing a bunch. It has since subsided and she is out and about free ranging with everyone else but should I be doing something for her? Does sneezing definately correlate with getting chilled?
I have 11 birds cooped at night in an insulated 8x4 on 2x4" roosts. Ceiling is around 7 feet high at its tallest. there is ventilation at the top of the walls and I presume there is no major drafts as the one window is locked and I shut the pop door at night. Just wondering.
I was under the impression that naked necks are winter hardy...this is my first naked neck and her first winter so didn't know if there was an adjustment period or something...I almost feel like she needs a scarf or something for her bare neck and partial breast...I can't imagine her not getting cold....
The other question is, I have 11 birds- 1 is a bantam cochin roo (he treats his ladies pretty good but is a jerk to us if we get too close) and just hatched this summer, I have 2 (20 wk old) roos. So, now that the roos are getting more mature, they are going after my tiny silkie when ever she is alone. And they are what seems like unreasonably rough jumping on her and all. If the alpha roo (the two young roos father) catches them, he goes after them and will get them off of her. She does get caught up in the cross fire though and gets roughed up a bit during the process....I feel bad for her. This just started so I need to come up with a solution. Any ideas- most likely I will have to cull 1-2 of the roos. My only issue is I've been contemplating getting rid of the current alpha roo as he is nasty to people if we get too close but he has managed to protect his girls all summer long- haven't lost one....I was hoping one of these younger roos could take over but they seem overly rough with this one silkie so I am in a dilemma. What to do?
Any advise?
Thanks
I live in NH. Temps have been 20s at night Lows and 40's highs. I know during the day they are fine but with the night temps as low as they are, my Naked neck came out of the coop this morning sneezing a bunch. It has since subsided and she is out and about free ranging with everyone else but should I be doing something for her? Does sneezing definately correlate with getting chilled?
I have 11 birds cooped at night in an insulated 8x4 on 2x4" roosts. Ceiling is around 7 feet high at its tallest. there is ventilation at the top of the walls and I presume there is no major drafts as the one window is locked and I shut the pop door at night. Just wondering.
I was under the impression that naked necks are winter hardy...this is my first naked neck and her first winter so didn't know if there was an adjustment period or something...I almost feel like she needs a scarf or something for her bare neck and partial breast...I can't imagine her not getting cold....
The other question is, I have 11 birds- 1 is a bantam cochin roo (he treats his ladies pretty good but is a jerk to us if we get too close) and just hatched this summer, I have 2 (20 wk old) roos. So, now that the roos are getting more mature, they are going after my tiny silkie when ever she is alone. And they are what seems like unreasonably rough jumping on her and all. If the alpha roo (the two young roos father) catches them, he goes after them and will get them off of her. She does get caught up in the cross fire though and gets roughed up a bit during the process....I feel bad for her. This just started so I need to come up with a solution. Any ideas- most likely I will have to cull 1-2 of the roos. My only issue is I've been contemplating getting rid of the current alpha roo as he is nasty to people if we get too close but he has managed to protect his girls all summer long- haven't lost one....I was hoping one of these younger roos could take over but they seem overly rough with this one silkie so I am in a dilemma. What to do?
Any advise?
Thanks
