[CattinJ]

Hi,
We have 4 ex bats. One (Snuggles) was badly bullied to to being ill when we first got her - we probably did the wrong thing as we seperated her (all other 3 were bullying her) and she now lives "on her own" in a run right next to the others so they see her but cant get to her and when we are home from work, they all roam the garden together as much as possible.

My question is, when winter comes will Snuggles be warm enough on her own with no one else to cuddle up to?  Mad as it sounds, we were thinking of putting one of those old fashioned stone hot water bottles in with her on very cold nights...

Does anyone else have hens they keep on their own and what do they do when the weather turns cold?

Cattin

[AmandaH]

Hey CJ, we have exactly the same situation.  Four ex-batts with one, poor old Mavis, who is clearly not "in with the In Crowd" - the others are together all the time and she is always over the other side of the garden, on her own.

Was thinking the same thing myself so will be interested to see replies here.

Sorry I can't help!  Perhaps we could get Snuggles and Mavis together for warmth?  

[iwantanallotment]

A local breeder who I've bought birds from shared a tip with me that she was given by an old timer....

Suspend some mop heads (clean and dry) from a perch, at just the right height for your hens to snuggle into. I've done it for my chicks so they hang pretty low to the ground, yours would need to be a bit higher for bigger hens.  Anyway, it works a treat - on colder nights (which we're getting occasionally now) they snuggle in there and the mop heads act like a fake broody/hen for them to cuddle.

Quick, easy and worth a try?

ps - the thick "woolly" mop heads btw, not the Vileda thingies 

[CattinJ]

I just love that kind of inventiveness - thanks for the tip, sounds great!