Transitioning a recovered hen

[Kakes]

Hi I had one of my 3-year old hens get very sick. I am 99% sure she had sour crop. It took me a bit to diagnose and help her recover. It is winter here and during her R&R she has been in a heated pole barn in a dog crate. For almost 3 weeks she has been inside. She has recovered and is ready to go back outside with the flock.

How do I transition her back? Should I move her to a half-heated space for a couple days? (I have an attached garage that isn’t heated but gets some radiant heat.) Or can I just put her back outside even though it’s cold? It’s going to be -6 tonight so I am going to wait another day but we are still talking single digits overnight. My girls live in an unheard coop.

Edit: I do plan to move the whole crate into the run so she can re-integrate but that also means she won’t be able to hide from the wind in corners. And put her into a little carrier in the coop at night for the nights. I’m very torn between transitioning slowly but also wanting her back outdoors with the flock. I feel terrible she has been inside so long already.

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[Tonyroo]

Acclimate her to the outside temperature then put her crate in the coop to sleep. Should only take a week.

 

[Tonyroo]

Acclimate her to the outside temperature then put her crate in the coop to sleep. Should only take a week.

Since your in the single digits, give them high carb treats before bed. Like corn or sunflower seeds. They will covert it to generate more heat over night. Also check that everyone has a full crop before bed.

 

[Kakes]

Acclimate her to the outside temperature then put her crate in the coop to sleep. Should only take a week.

Do you specifically mean just leave the dog crate in the coop so she spends her days and nights in there for about a week? Or just have her out in the coop in the day and back in the heat for the night? I can do either. But just want to make sure I understand it.

The main flock has been getting scratch and BOSS during the day but I’ll throw them an extra couple handfuls towards sundown.

My recovering hen has been on straight layer feed since her crop issues. I’ll give her a little grit and treats today and increase it tomorrow… make sure she can tolerate it before I move her outside.

 

[Kakes]

Okay well I will try to figure something out. Thank you.