New Brahma Hen not Tolerating the Cold

[Sunshine009]

Hello everyone,

Just last night I picked up three new hens, one of which is a Buff Brahma about 5 months old im guessing. This morning I noticed the Brahma sneezing, but the woman I got her from said she had never noticed her sneeze and the other two were fine, so I chalked it up to stress (same thing happened with the last five hens I got).

Just this morning we got a pretty big snowstorm but I was of course confident the three new hens would be fine, being cold tolerant breeds with a good shelter.

When I went to check on them, I found the other two hens doing just fine, but the Brahma was shivering and soaking. I've brought her inside for the time being to dry off a bit. I contacted the woman I got her from again and she said she's never really seen her leave the coop when it was snowing so never had anything happen to her.

I'm just really not sure what to do or what to make of it. Besides the obvious, she seems perfectly healthy, eating and moving about just fine. Her feathers suggest she may be going through a late molt, exposing her downy feathers underneath, which may be causing her to get wet. But I'm not sure what I can do with her besides lock her in the coop when its snowing.

I trust the seller, as the other two are fine and she's promised to replace her if anything she happen.

The pic is of her currently sitting in my bathtub lol. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Yardmom]

You say she was soaking. The moisture would be more of a problem than the temperature. Being new in the flock she may not have found a good spot where she could hide from the established flock and stay out of the weather.

 

[Snakebiteholloway]

My 4 new brahmas were exactly the same. And for the reason mentioned above. I think they are naturally more docile and usually end up at the bottom of the pecking order.
And for purportedly cold tolerant chickens they sure didn't like it. So i sequestered them by closing off a corner of the coop to give them their own space and time to establish that idea with the other girls.
It seems to be working. I've removed the enclosure and they no longer stand outside in the cold snow and shiver. They have their own corner now. I installed lower roosts with ladders for them. They are heavier from day one and can't easily get to the higher roosts. That helped a lot.

 

[Eggcessive]

Observe her for more sneezing and nasal or eye drainage. Do you see any bubbles in an eye? Do you think she was wet from splashing water from the drinker, or from eye or nasal drainage? If she is showing signs of a respiratory disease, she may not be able to keep up her body temperature outside, and would need some extra heat. If she dries off and seems better, you can then place her back in the coop with the others. Respiratory diseases can be chronic and contagious to others. Do you have other chickens? It is good to keep new chickens separated and quarantined for about a month to make sure they don’t have disease symptoms, worms, or lice/mites.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I was thinking respiratory illness, too. She might be a carrier, and the stress of a new home might have caused her to be symptomatic.

But, poor girl! She looks miserable. I'd probably dry her off and find a place for her to stay dry in the coop, maybe in a crate, if she's determined to run out in the weather.