When to bring my chicken back outside in winter after convalescing in the house

[CharityB]

On January 16th, when I went to the coop, I discovered that my Truffle (cuckoo Orpington) had tales. Her breathing was loud and rattling on inspiration and expiration and I immediately brought her inside to isolate her and observe. She is the lowest in the pecking order and is a timid, slow moving girl in general, so there were no obvious signs she was becoming ill.
I am happy to report that she has fully recovered after treatment with antibiotics prescribed by the vet and safely convalescing indoors.
I enjoy having a house chicken but I feel that Truffle is beginning to miss being with her sisters, but I’m concerned about bringing her back outside in the winter temperatures.
Currently it’s minus two degrees Celsius but many days have been -15, with a wind chill of -20’s. Truffle has been in our home at a comfortable 20 degrees Celsius and often parks herself in front of the fireplace for extra warmth.
Can I bring her outside without sever temperature shock and possible death? I’m concerned for her well-being, both with recovering from a respiratory illness and that of her mental health, as chickens are a very social creatures. I’m just trying to weigh the pros and cons.
She doesn’t eat a lot and still has excessive urates, white watery poops with small formed poop present, but I wonder if her decreased appetite is from loneliness? She is much more active in the house now, wandering around and exploring, and talks a bit more (she has always been a quiet, not very vocal girl) and I am torn. She could thrive inside finding her personality or go back to being bullied at the bottom of the pecking order.
Do I need to wait for milder spring weather? And then I would likely have to do playpen method just to reintegrate her due to the length of time away from her flock. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you, backyard chicken raising friends!

 

[CharityB]

Rales* not tales, autocorrect is so annoying

 

[MandS]

Great that you have helped her recover and it is kind of nice to have a house chicken!

It won't be easy, is the short answer. I have done this when it has not been as cold as you are talking. Here in the UK, we rarely get to any minus figures below about 4 or 5 degrees (an apologies if you are also in the UK!) I used to be able to open a room up to the outside - a window or door, just to get the temp down gradually. Then try and keep the chicken in that room for the rest of the day. Next day, do the same thing and take it down again - and so on. But it wasn't that cold - it was probably 6'C outside and 21 indoors, so not that big a gap.

If you can bear to keep her in until it gets a bit more temperate, then good but whatever and whenever you do take her back, there will be the undoubtable establishing of pecking order. It is always a bit brutal and if she isn't physically ready for it yet, I would not put her through it because a weakness will be exploited by the others, even if they have been the best of coop buddies previously.

There may be far better wisdom out there but that's what I'd be doing. And even when I do introduce her again, I'd be in there as the the Big Chicken Ruler to referee any fighting. I did have to resort to peepers once it was that bad but after 2 weeks of peepers, it calmed down.

Good luck. Nice that she has such a caring owner.

 

[YES House Chickens]

The chickens need to acclimate themselves slowly to temp changes. Just as you would not jump into cold river but gently start with a foot then enter waters slowly.. Your chick needs to slowly get used to the cold. I would not put her out until it gets above 55F remember the wind makes things colder also. Humans get hyperthermia at that temp. In usa i could not put my chicks out until May.. I brought them in in Feb. Put a diaper on it and well enjoy them as long as you want. I have House Pet Chickens year round. Been doing it for years now