Solo too cold?

[Dhkoenig]

Hi All - Happy Holidays to all you chicken lovers! I have a decent sized coop (supposedly for 12 hens) it is six feet long, five feet wide and about 8 feet inside height. I have three roost that anyone wants to perch on. There are two parallel up high that could fit all of my chickens with extra space with 3 on one and 4 on the other. There is a third perch lower down that my girl who is lowest on the pecking order sleeps. Once in a while she manages to be allowed to sleep with the rest but most night she is by herself on a lower perch. My question is this - tonight it is going to be in the 20s. In that coop I have three other adult hens, two pullets (2.5 - 3 months old) and a cockerel (also 2.5-3 months old) Tonight, the three young ones and one of my adults are on one, my two big buffs are on the other, but my bullied chicken is by herself on that low perch. Without the body heat of other chickens snuggling with her, will she be warm enough in that unheated coop in 28 outdoor temps?

 

[SueT]

I think so!

 

[3KillerBs]

The snuggling doesn't really do much for a fully-feathered chicken. Their own down parkas are thick enough to keep them warm as long as they're dry and out of the wind.

28F is nothing to a chicken. Even my southern-adapted birds take it in stride.

 

[Boise-girls]

28 isn't really all that cold. Mine have been fine when it's hovering in that range, and it seems like there's always 2 or 3 sleeping solo.

However, when it gets near 10 and into single digits, I do have a plan for the one who sleeps on the door frame between two vents. I'm going to wait till they're asleep and move her to a better spot. If I wait till they've dozed off and quickly remove any light I'm using for the task, they'll usually stay put till morning. Kind of a pain, but less worry!

 

[3KillerBs]

28 isn't really all that cold. Mine have been fine when it's hovering in that range, and it seems like there's always 2 or 3 sleeping solo.

However, when it gets near 10 and into single digits, I do have a plan for the one who sleeps on the door frame between two vents. I'm going to wait till they're asleep and move her to a better spot. If I wait till they've dozed off and quickly remove any light I'm using for the task, they'll usually stay put till morning. Kind of a pain, but less worry!

That's what I did last week for my hen who is in the middle of a hard molt. I took her out of the nest where she's been trying to sleep and tucked her in between two of her biggest, fluffiest friends.