Raising Only One Hen: To Heat Or Not To Heat?

[LaCageAuxFowls]

For the next 6 months I will have only one hen, I live in Northern Indiana and it is about to get very cold. Her coop is a raised A-frame so the bottom/floor is open air, with her perch in the top of the A-frame. I have moved it into the barn so it is out of the wind....the barn has seen sub-zero temps in the past. From my reading on this site it sounds like I don't really need to heat the coop BUT that is usually followed by statements like: the girls will huddle together and keep each other warm. My hen will not have that option. Thought?

 

[Windus]

She is going to be very lonely and cold - can you not get more chickens?

 

[birdofhermes]

you should give it a heat lamp and spoil it as much as you can

 

[LaCageAuxFowls]

She is going to be very lonely and cold - can you not get more chickens?

I'd rather not introduce any new hens until the weather improves (my neighbors added some adult hens and ended up with big vet bills as they brought something into the group). I was hoping to get chicks in March or so. She has been alone for about 2 months now with just the pasture horses to keep her company. Sounds like a heat lamp will be in order. She gets carried to and from the barn as her "playpen" is outside....this is a new winter set up for her and she quickly learned the routine and come to me freely to be carried. Thanks.

 

[Latestarter]

I think you should bring her indoors and make her a house chicken... Just kidding of course. Perhaps, since she is alone, if you placed a 5 sided (one open side) box inside the A-frame coop and put hay/straw/wood chips/old blanket scraps/etc. inside it, she would go inside and hunker down and in turn be very warm. As long as the temps don't go much below 0 to -10, I'm sure she can survive by herself on the roost, but she's gonna be real lonely during those long cold nights.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I agree with the house chicken idea lol. Buy her a chicken diaper and make her a house pet for the winter If that's totally not an option, I'd agree that maybe some type of heat should be provided though I'm not sure about a heat lamp.

 

[JaeG]

Many a coop has burned down because of a heat lamp. And if she gets used to the heat and then the bulb blows or you lose power then she won't be acclimatised to the cold and she won't last long. I'd make her as warm and cozy a shelter as possible with lots of insulating straw and she should be ok as long as she's out of the wind (which is sounds like she is).

 

[PirateGirl]

Would a chicken cuddle with a stuffed animal? Or maybe something like this...

https://www.petmountain.com/product...MIu9uSn5WV2AIVlrjACh1zfgaNEAQYAyABEgJUm_D_BwE

I've had parrots and parakeets that would snuggle into one of these, it's like a little pouch.