Silkie and polish winter care

[bigz1983]

Last night my girlfriends gold laced crested polish pullet died. She lived with 3 Silkie hens in a small homemade coop I built. I'm from Michigan and it got down to 17 degrees last night. I don't have a heat lamp in the coop.

I have a heated 2 gallon poultry fount and I noticed that her head feathers would get wet every time she drank water and the Silkies head feathers get wet every time they drink water too.

What kind of drinker works best to keep their head feathers dry?

Should I put a heat lamp on them?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

While their origin isn't known, they likely developed on the Euopean continent so they should be able to handle MI winters.
I raised a flock of polish that hatched in late October and they lived in an unheated building through the first winter when it got well below zero.
I'm suspecting the issue may be with frozen crest feathers.
It should be a fount they can't dip head feathers into.
If you can't find one, horizontal nipples would likely be an answer to the problem.
It could have died from some cause other than cold.
Polish chickens should easily be able to handle those temps even with a wet crest.
If you still have the bird, sending it off to the state poultry lab for necropsy would be the best course of action.
Here is your MI poultry lab.
Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory
Michigan State University Disease Center for Population
4125 Beaumont Road
Lansing, MI 48810 Phone: (517) 353-0635
Fax: (517) 353-5096
https://www.animalhealth.msu.edu/

 

[bigz1983]

I bought a heated rabbit waterer today it says it will work for birds too. It has a little nipple thing the chickens can peck at. I don't know if they will use it though. If they can figure it out that should help keep their crest dry.