Question about cold temps

[glassdragonfly]

Hi Everyone! I have a strange problem. Mercury has been doing great,living in the garage,being spoiled rotten. But today she went into her little box and I thought she was going to lay her first egg. But no egg,wanted no foodeek Crazy for Mercury! So I got worried and brought her in the house. Rolaid,asprin and bath and blow dry. Nothing! Could not feel an egg either. Got her settled into a crate and let her rest. All she would do is shiver and stay puffed up. Not even peeping to me,and she is very vocal. Her balance has been bad since she broke her leg last summer but it was really bad. Just as I was logging on to BYC she started peeping at me even though the room is dark. So I got her some food and she scarfed it down. Her balance is still worse than normal but getting better. She is still puffed up and acting cold. Our temps her have been getting low but not real bad. Mercury is it the garage because she is senitve to cold and can't stay with the other chickens in the coop. Plus they are mean to her. Could this whole episode be caused by the cold? The garage is colder because we are not getting any sun to help warm it up. As anyone had a chicken get hypothermia? And what can I do to help her now? Should I be her on a heat pad,even though it's warm in the house? Or do I still need to consider egg problems? She was hatched last April and still is not laying.
Any thoughts or ideas are welcome, I really love this little girl. Thanks BYC!

 

[azygous]

If you suspect Mercury is suffering from hypothermia, you would be wise to treat for it. Warm a bath towel in the dryer and bundle Mercury in it. It will give you an excuse to cuddle her closely, which should also help make her feel better.

After about twenty minutes in the warm towel, give her some warm Gatoraid or warm sugar water with a pinch of salt. Hopefully, she will drink it on her own. My chickens all adore the red Gatoraid.

After that, give her some warm food such as a soft boiled egg or a little warm oatmeal.

Chickens can become hypothermic if they get wet, or if they haven't eaten enough calories to keep them warm when it's freezing. This can affect balance, alertness, and can be fatal if untreated. Hopefully, by tomorrow, Mercury will feel better and be more her old self.

 

[glassdragonfly]

Thank you Azygous! She is doing better,but not her normal self yet. She just drank some warm water and is settling in to sleep. She did eat some warm chicken and rice. I'm going to keep her nice and warm tonight. Hopefully she will be fine in the morning! Off to get a warm towel and cuddle her! Thanks again,thought I might be a little crazy to think it might be cold that got her down!

 

[glassdragonfly]

Update, Mercury is more her normal self this morning. Eating like a pig and talking a lot. Poop normal.But her balance is still not great and she is using her wings to stop falling to her sides. So she will stay in the house until that is better. Hopefully no more problems!

 

[azygous]

Give her more sugar water over the next few hours, and offer cooked egg. Weakness can mimic lameness.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad she is doing a bit better.
I agree, keeping her warm and hydrated is very good.

What do you normally feed her?

 

[glassdragonfly]

She always has grower feed and gets a little cracked corn for a treat. Plus other treats that I can warm up for her like peas and rice with some chopped up chicken.
It got up to 40 today so I took her outside in the sun and she got some greens from the yard and exercise. Still weak legged but she's getting better. I have her in tonight. She ate great today and drank real well. I think she is just weak from getting so cold,so I'm going to give her time to get her strength back before she goes back to the garage. I feel awful for not catching this quicker, that will not happen again! Thanks for all the help.

 

[azygous]

Perhaps some B-complex would assist her in recovering the strength in her legs. I'm so relieved she's recovering. It does appear she had a close call and you may have lost her to hypothermia.

Is she underweight? It would be good to figure out why she was susceptible to the cold when it wasn't below freezing. I suggest you weigh her and maybe we can determine if she needs to be fattened up a bit. At the very least, she could probably use some extra nutrition when you anticipate some cold weather so she has the calories to produce adequate body heat.

 

[glassdragonfly]

I'll check and see what B vitamins I have. She has really weird feathers. Both her parents were half silkie. I don't think she is underweight but I'll see is I can round up a scale that will work. She is so tiny,smaller than her full silkie grandma. I do have a heat pad for reptiles that I thought I could put in her box.

 

[azygous]

If she has Silkie feathers, that could be a reason why she reacted poorly to the cold snap. I suggest rigging the heat pad vertically so she can choose to snuggle against it or move away from it instead of slipping it under her.

Does she normally huddle with the other chickens at night? Chickens survive very cold nights by sharing their body heat with their buddies.