Transitioning back outside after being sick.

[vtchickenlady]

I have a hen that has been wheezing all day. With help from my local feed supplier/farmer I 've now got her on antibiotics for a cold. I have her isolated in my laundry room which is inside my house and gets heat. The farmer told me that the hen will not be able to tolerate the cold outside once she gets over being sick because I am isolating her inside where its warm. Wow, never thought of that. Does anyone else have an opinion on that? I don't really have any other options except for the shed

I don't want to put her back in the coop and have to treat the whole flock either. She's fully feathered out and we've had below zero temps here. Anyway, after she has been on the antibiotic for a few days and the wheezing is gone I plan to transition her back out by hanging with the other chickens during the day and back inside at night. Does that sound like a good plan? I don't want a chicken in my house til spring - I live in Vermont.

 

[MarieNC]

One of my girls just recently went back outside after being in my kitchen for a month postop crop surgery. It's not as cold here in NC as it is in Vermont, but I still do have a heat lamp on her, since she is isolated and won't have the other girls to huddle with for warmth. It has gone below freezing and she seems to be tolerating it just fine.

 

[vtchickenlady]

I don't have a way to isolate her outside this time of year so the other girls would be under the lamp too. I don't want them to go soft on the cold tolerance since we still have a couple of months of hard winter left here. Guess I will have to transition her slowly.