The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[ronott1]

NEED OPINIONS ASAP

I'm sitting here wondering what I should do. My most beautifully feathered girl (hatchery) went into a very heavy molt all of a sudden and has lost ALMOST ALL FEATHERS. She has been looking miserable the last 2 days.

I put an apron on her hoping it would help keep her warmer but these temperatures are very cold to be sleeping naked.

Today when I got home she appeared to be having trouble standing upright to walk...but she did. She would be hunkered down, then get up and walk a few steps then hunker down again. I fed her raw ground meat by hand and she ate it very eagerly which was good to see because yesterday and the day before she didn't eat very much. She did eat, but not much. Today she ate quite a bit of the meat and seemed to have a better appetite than the prior 2 days.

So I'm wondering if I should bring her inside during this cold weather until she recovers from molt. This is very tricky because I don't have any area that is intermediary between indoor temps and outdoor temps. If she comes in it will be a huge temperature change and I may have trouble getting her back out and acclimated. It is supposed to be in the 40s and 50s this weekend, then drop back low again. I'm not sure that short of time would give her enough time for her to feather back out as it's only a couple days from now.

So.... Opinions....what would you do?

Do you have space in a garage that is warmer than outside?

There should be a warm place that is used for a hospital space.

 

[Lacy Blues]

NEED OPINIONS ASAP

I'm sitting here wondering what I should do. My most beautifully feathered girl (hatchery) went into a very heavy molt all of a sudden and has lost ALMOST ALL FEATHERS. She has been looking miserable the last 2 days.

I put an apron on her hoping it would help keep her warmer but these temperatures are very cold to be sleeping naked.

Today when I got home she appeared to be having trouble standing upright to walk...but she did. She would be hunkered down, then get up and walk a few steps then hunker down again. I fed her raw ground meat by hand and she ate it very eagerly which was good to see because yesterday and the day before she didn't eat very much. She did eat, but not much. Today she ate quite a bit of the meat and seemed to have a better appetite than the prior 2 days.

So I'm wondering if I should bring her inside during this cold weather until she recovers from molt. This is very tricky because I don't have any area that is intermediary between indoor temps and outdoor temps. If she comes in it will be a huge temperature change and I may have trouble getting her back out and acclimated. It is supposed to be in the 40s and 50s this weekend, then drop back low again. I'm not sure that short of time would give her enough time for her to feather back out as it's only a couple days from now.

So.... Opinions....what would you do?

I agree with Ron. If you have a garage, it would be intermediary. I might also be tempted to put some kind of heat for her so she can grow her feathers back without freezing to death.

Have you seen Kassaundra's latest video she posted on here?

 

[armorfirelady]

AFL, that is crazy!!!! 5 feet of snow, how can anyone including emergency services move in that? That just blows my mind. I can deal with 3 feet. but heck, i'm only 5'5 so that means snow up to my nose!.

Are you worried about the weight of the snow on the hoop coop? or is it mostly sliding off?

keep us posted, I'm sure I'm not the only one who will be thinking of you and your mom and wondering how you are doing in this.

I am in Hamburg, NY......about 3 miles from the Bills stadium. Had about 5 ft when I got a ride to work this morning and the snow machine is back & they are saying another 2 ft to come. The snow is not sliding off the coop. Its heavy wet snow. And we have been getting freezing rain as well. I shoveled it yesterday and tomorrow after I get some sleep I plan on doing it again.

So.... Opinions....what would you do?

I agree maybe in a garage thats warmer than the barn. Or maybe the basement? & put her in with a buddy so they can share their warmth?

 

[armorfirelady]

I can still see half my house as of 11 am this morning

 

[Leahs Mom]

I don't have an intermediary space. It's either in or out right now. Garage is occupied by a couple other birds in quarantine and it isn't heated anyhow...I'd have to heat it for this purpose.

I'm just getting up. Left her out last night but may bring her in today. It will be hard to re acclimate if I do.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@armorfirelady
Your snow reminds me of what we called the "blizzard of 78" when we got that kind of snow here. Strange time of year for it.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Just back in. When I went out she was on the floor under the roost so I nabbed her up and I now have a "house chicken".

Poor thing is so scruffy and whenever she moves her only remaining feathers fall like snow. Chopped up some liver and she ate it right up so there's no appetite problem!

It will be interesting trying to get her back out again. Sure wish she could grow those feathers in enough by the weekend to transition her back out.

Wonder if I should bring in a buddy too...

 

[lazy gardener]

I think you did the right thing. I have a very hard time swallowing the whole thing about chickens doing just fine in extreme cold. It seems that folks assume that if their chickens survive it, that they're just fine, and don't need supplemental heat. There comes a point in time that the body just isn't able to keep up with the demands placed on it to maintain core temp. It's called hypothermia. When the body gets hypothermic, it can't generate enough heat to get back up to normal core temp. Every year, we hear warnings about bringing in your cats and dogs during extreme chill conditions. How is a chicken any better prepared to survive that day in and day out? Last year, several of my ladies did a severe molt during the worst weather. I gave them a flower pot heater to kick off just a bit of extra heat in their 4 x 8 enclosure. It wasn't much, but it did bring the temp up a couple of degrees. I noticed that when it was coldest, they just stood around, and didn't eat as much. IMO, that's a sure sign that the body is suffering. They should have been eating more.

 

[Leahs Mom]

This is one of the reasons that I've asked in the past if anyone has used the Sweeter Heaters and what kind of heat raise you get from them.

If they do a decent job, I was considering purchasing one for a time like this when I might not want to totally bring a bird in the house, but could provide a heat source in a kennel or just over the roost area, etc. for a short period of time for an emergency recovery.

 

[islandgirl82]

I had seen these solar window heaters ages ago and thought it was a genius idea. They were said to raise the temp in a (can't remember the dimensions) room by 15 to 20*F and given there's no electricity in my coop, this seemed like a perfect solution...no fire hazard, no worrying about power outages, and most of all...no mid-molt, half-feathered frozen flock but I don't know how legitimate the claims were/are and they were a bit costly for not knowing.